Friday, March 18, 2011

Conspicuous Consumer

So, I took my son Jeff out for a walk in the gale force winds today.  What a workout that was!  I didn't know that the 65 degree temperature was going to be accompanied by 65 mile per hour winds.  Okay, maybe I exaggerate slightly but that is what it felt like.  Jeff had a good time as always and didn't seem to mind the wind at all.  Of course he wasn't the one pushing a 24 pound toddler in a 20 pound stroller into said wind. So, need less to say I was famished when we returned home and what better post-walk snack is there than an english muffin pizza.  Actually, I hadn't had lunch yet so it wasn't really a snack.  Don't want you thinking I eat pizza for a snack!  Haha.  Anyway, I bet you're wondering what this lovely story has to do with the title of the blog.  Patience, I am getting there and it will all make sense.
So, back to the english muffin pizza.  I have such a strong childhood affiliation with this particular food.  My siblings and I had a great-aunt who was widowed at a young age and never had children of her own.  Naturally she adored us--I mean who wouldn't?  As a special treat if we had a day off from school one of us would get to spend the day with her.  This was fantastic!  She would order groceries when we got there(she didn't drive) and they would be delivered in an hour or two(this was way before peapod and cool to us kids who had to schlep to the grocery store with our mom).  Clearly our lunch would be english muffin pizzas. Enough about food and here's the segway into the actual topic of the blog.
Now as kids we all would watch tv and see a commercial and beg our parents for whatever it is we just saw.  I apologize if I offend anyone by generalizing all of us kids.  If you weren't one of these kids, then you knew one and the story still makes sense.  The commercials were designed to entice us and boy did they do it well.  I can remember asking for the new Barbie, or the new Doritoes, or the cool new whatever it may have been.  The point is I was sucked in by that advertising and truly felt like I would die if I didn't get it. Hence the beginning of my life as a conspicuous consumer.
Fast forward to adult hood and here I am still getting sucked in by advertising.  One would think I would have outgrown this behavior. You are reading the blog of a girl who purchased Hip Hop Abs off an infomercial for crying out loud!  Shaun T told me I would look amazing if I followed "his proven system".   I mean look at him, he must be right!  I HAD to have it.  A few days into the videos of his "proven system" and I felt robbed.  It was a farce of a workout.  I mean did I really think I could get rock hard abs by bending at the waist in time to hip hop music?  Apparently so, the dvd set sits in my entertainment center.
My biggest gripe is when I am disappointed by the coveted item that I just purchased.  Whether it be a food item, health and beauty item, clothing or what have you.  Nothing is worse than having your bubble of anticipation blown to smithereens.  Especially if you delayed the gratification of getting it.  My husband believes it all boils down to me being upset that people don't do what they say they are going to.  In part he is right.  A lot of the frustration in my life comes from when people don't treat me the way that I treat them.  Again this is probably another throwback from my childhood.  From a time when things seemed simple and there was a direct cause and effect way of life.  This also goes for the products that I purchase.  They promised me X.  I held up my end of the bargain by buying their product.  When I don't get X from said product it is a sad, disappointing day.
To this day if I am watching tv with my husband and see a commercial that makes me go hmm, I will comment on it.   He will reply with "Well, that will be in the house next week".  Sometimes he is right.  Sometimes I wait 2 weeks or until I have a coupon just to prove him wrong.

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