Consuming & Giving
I started out today with only one simple objective in mind: to go for a nice, leisurely swim. And I did. Unfortunately, the pool complex was right across the street from a shopping complex. As I was leaving the pool complex with every intention of heading straight home, my body became possessed by the spirit of consumerism and I soon found myself standing at a cash register, debit card in hand, the proud new owner of things I never meant to get (just yet). My mind, no doubt in cahoots with that vile cash-sucking spirit tried to justify my purchases in a multitude of ways.
5 new novels? I know what you’re thinking, said my mind, where are you going to find the time to read them when you haven’t even gotten through all your required reading for Uni? But who cares? They’re books! Books are never a waste of money. Books contain knowledge, knowledge is POWER. You like power, don’t you? Sweet little megalomaniac, you……
No, I said, if Foucault is to be believed, knowledge is not power, power is knowledge.
Foucault is a cunt! spat my mind, besides, it’s not like you even properly read through his work – you just had Z practice her presentation on Foucault on you over and over again.
I read through Foucault’s Discipline & Punish, thank you very much, I said indignantly.
My mind sniggered, really? How come I don’t remember that?
Well, how do you justify me buying a new pair of jeans, then?
Easy, said my mind, how many strangers have you flashed your butt-crack to in the past week? What are your hands doing right now? Holding up your old pair of jeans, eh?
And two workout tanks?
Well, doh, how else are you going to fit into that new pair of jeans five months down the line?
But the two new pairs of bras and undies have got to be ridiculous right?
You, not wearing a bra is ridiculous. Your boobs are sagging and your friends are tired of your nips saying hello! I can’t believe you only have one functioning bra in your closet before. An 11 year old owns more bras than you do.
That’s because we live in an over-sexualized society. Just take a look at toys aimed at young girls these days – Barbies, Bratz dolls, even a toy pony is not spared from having physical signals of female sexual behavior – My Little Pony’s G3s has its accentuated rump up in the air, bedroom eyes, long legs and don’t forget lips parted like a porn star – and it’s aimed at ages 3-12! We live in a society where girls are under pressure to move from being cute to sexy all too soon. Why else would an 11 year old girl feel such need to wear a bra, just like mom and big sis?
Well, you have to take into account that not all girls bloom as late as you do. Just because you didn’t grow boobs until you were 18, doesn’t mean everyone else didn’t. Besides, you’re 21 now, not friggin 12 although by the pitiful size of your chest lately, you might be forgiven for thinking you’re still 12.
Oh, shut up, I said. You’re detracting from the issue here.
No, YOU’RE straying from the issue. The issue is you need to get a new tube of mascara. And throw that lip-plumping lipgloss in the bag too.
Oi! Didn’t you get the memo, dear mind, that I don’t speak to myself in such a negative manner anymore? It’s called the law of attraction. Apparently, it’s a secret and it’s some self-help schmaltz that’s supposed to change your miserable life for the better. Actually, it’s not just a secret it’s The Secret. Except it was on Oprah so I really don’t know how much of a secret it is anymore.
Yeah, I got the memo. Didn’t you get mine? It’s the one with
Re: You’re Still Ugly – HAHA. Oh, don’t forget those eye masks. You look a little post coke-binge/party Lindsay Lohan under the eyes. And when you get home, don’t forget to download Tori Amos’ new album from iTunes. And…………
“Excuse me, Miss, could you spare us a little bit of your time?” asked a young man wearing a UNHCR t-shirt, standing at a United Nations Refugee Agency Booth they had set up in the middle of the shopping center, in the midst of all that spending, excess, convenience and mindless consumerism. He had cornered me on my way to buying a pack of cigarettes.
I looked at the time and saw that I didn’t need to know it. I had no classes to attend, no plans, no responsibility to be anywhere else. All I had were my swipe-weary EFTPOS & Visa Debit Card and instead of the weight and the fate of the world on my shoulders, I had six shopping bags of things that went beyond necessity. How’s that for a charmed life I don’t appreciate enough? Yeah, sure, I said to the UNHCR guy.
He pointed to a poster of Saint Angelina Jolie at a refugee camp.
Uhm, uhm, I nodded. I’m not much for celebrity endorsements. Oh yes you do, a dress in my wardrobe called to say, you bought me just last week because you thought I looked like a dress that Kate Moss might wear to Glastonbury.
UNHCR guy talked of the crisis in Darfur and showed me a photo of a sprawling refugee camp in
I hung my head. Not even. All for me. Me Me
“No, no, I’m not trying to lay a guilt trip on you. It’s alright to shop, heck, I’m going shopping in a while. Haha. But think about it, it just takes a contribution of 80 cents, only 80 cents a day to assist 2 families or only one dollar a day to help 500 lives, 500.” said the UNHCR guy.
But you’re no
So I ended my Friday with committing 25 dollars a month to UNHCR relief efforts. Just two less packs of cigarettes to smoke a month and you help two whole families and not to mention yourself. Funny, isn’t it, all the riches you think you don’t have?
For more information on UNHCR and how you can help, please visit http://unrefugees.org.au
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*Note: Karma, I believe in karma! As I was walking back home from the bus stop, I dropped one of my shopping bags with a 100 dollars worth of items on the side of the street and didn’t realize it until I had been home for awhile. Running back out to look for it, I was pessimistic about actually finding the thing - previous experience taught me that someone would have either made off with the loot or kicked it into the drain for it to be washed away into the sewers. What I found instead was someone had picked it up, carefully folded it and placed it on the fence of the house that I had dropped it by. Hurrah!
