The Costco Syndrome... Is America's addiction to more changing us forever?

Something has gone seriously wrong in the world. It hit me the other day as I was being tortured by my monthly pilgrimage to the America's modern day mecca.  That place where all men cringe because they know there is no chance they are going to return home without being at least $100.00 poorer. Yes, I went to Costco.  Home of biggest memory foam mattresses in America and an almost fatal disease that has infected all our land. I call it the Costco Syndrome. If you are like me, you grew up in a fairly modest home where you kept everything you owned at, or in your house. The garage was used primarily for stuff you used outside the home, like lawnmowers, tools, and fishing poles.  Oh yeah, you put your car there too, and maybe even a boat. But then along came what we now call the big box retailers.  Price Club, Sam’s Club and of course, the ubiquitous Costco. And once that happened, America was changed forever.  No longer did we shop for what we needed today or even tomorrow.  Instead we found ourselves shopping for next month, and the month after that. How else to explain buying a years supply of pancake mix or a box of cereal that could feed a small country? This is how the big box mindset has impacted our lives. No longer content to buy a four pack of toilet paper, we’ve made a decision that we need to have somewhere between 30 and 48 rolls of that soft Charmin stuff on hand everyday.  The problem is that we have to put those rolls somewhere. So we started using our closets for storage instead of clothes.  Once those closets were no longer big enough, considering we were also storing a year’s supply of Kleenex, paper towels and dishwashing liquid, we had to buy bigger homes. But then one day those bigger homes, the ones with 27 bathrooms to hold all that extra toilet paper and their three car garages, were no longer big enough, so we started renting storage units.  Are you getting this?  We rented off site storage units where we could put the stuff of our lives, so we could buy more and bigger stuff from the Costco/Sam’s Club cabal that cluttered our homes even more to be prepared for next month. Before we knew it we were buying olive oil in gallon jugs, pumpkin pies the size of Texas, toothpaste in the convenient 20 pack and enough frozen tequila lime chicken wings to feed a small country for a month. And all of that has come at a price that is continuing to impact us every day of our lives. Maxed out credit lines, overstuffed closets and expanding waistlines can all be traced back to the Costco Syndrome and our need to be prepared not just for tomorrow, but infinity and beyond. Hey, I could be wrong, but think about it next week as you are waiting in line for the greatest hot dog and soda deal in the country at $1.50.

Thanksgiving, Excess, and the Economy

Thursday for dinner we had turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, collared greens, macaroni and cheese, gravy, rolls, and of course dressing. For dessert we had lemon cooler cake, angel food cake [for my birthday], sweet potato pie, cool whip, and ice cream. It was a veritable feast, of excess. Friday and Saturday most of America got up early and hit the malls, shopping centers, and of course, Costco. For another type of excessive feast, the annual weekend buying spree to get every little boy and girl those special 27 gifts for Christmas. At the end of the day, we went home, repeated the ritual feeding with the Thursday leftovers and then settled into our own personal food comas, to watch another 6 football games on our 72 inch HD cable connected flat screen televisions. Over the last few years many Americans have lost their homes, jobs, families, and in some case, their lives as a result of the ongoing economic woes here in the United States, brought on in large part by a need to have more, bigger, and nicer things. It seems as if we have become insatiable in our desire to have more than we really need. The problem is we have grown as a nation to depend on it. If all of America was to suddenly decide to live a life based on real needs, as opposed to wants and supposed needs, imagine what would happen to the economy. Just consider the recent set of economic numbers from Washington. Overall they were pretty good. Until you get to new housing starts, which were down. Many leading economists believe we cannot recover from the downturn until that particular number turns around. But do we really need more new houses? Are people living on the streets because we have a housing shortage in this country? I doubt it. Yet Americans have grown into an almost cult like belief that we are entitled to everything we want, when we want it, and in large quantities, available only at Costco. Somehow when President Washington declared Thanksgiving a national day of thanks, I don't think the picture he had in his mind was what the day and weekend has become. Any thoughts?