Posts Tagged ‘consumerism’

Sleep on the Pavement, Piss in a Bottle

I am not going to talk about camping equipment. Or tents. Or camping trailers. I want to discuss people who camp out in front of businesses. If you have spent hours, days and nights in front of your local Apple store waiting for an iPhone 5, you should stop reading now because the rest of this post might offend you. Deeply.

Trader Joe’s opened it’s doors in Salt Lake City a few days ago. On the way home from work I passed by hundreds of people camping out in a semi-organized line in front of the store. People were anxiously waiting(…)

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Consumerism: Affluenza and Regular Bouts of Temporary Amnesia

This post is written by Lucille, a staff writer for My Broken Coin. 

It’s official – I’m suffering from affluenza and regular bouts of temporary amnesia. I say this as I find myself in an ever increasing consumeristic mindset. The particular strain of affluenza I have succumbed to is aspirational. I can’t afford full blown affluence yet and I sometimes forget that I have a lot of good stuff that makes for a comfortable life. But I want more….more goods, gadgets and toys to come into my life but, right at this moment, it’s not an option and cannot be for(…)

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What Would You Take With You in Case of a Fire?

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by a feeling of guilt. No, I did not hurt anyone, I did not steal anything, I did not lie, and no, I did not go on a binge shopping trip (not that I did not want to!)

I’ve been feeling guilty because I feel that I became too materialistic, too attached to stuff. If anything dreadful happens to us, I will be devastated by a loss of material things that took years to accumulate. I realize that material possessions are just bits and pieces of our lives and not really us. 

I opened an account a(…)

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A Rebel in Blue Jeans

I got my first pair of jeans when I was 26 years old. I just moved to the United States, and, after some examination of my wardrobe, my stepfather told my mother that I needed to go shopping. Understandably, my Lithuanian clothes did not fit well into an American lifestyle.

My first jeans were from Gap. I still remember that odd feeling of foreignness that those jeans stirred in me. I finally realized that I was indeed in a different country, in an unfamiliar reality.

Jeans were not a very common form of attire back home. In the Soviet Union they represented(…)

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How To Get Out of the Closet Rut

I tend to do a lot of shopping when the seasons change. This is when things get out of control: I attack malls, one store after another, trying to find that perfect outfit, that one top that will change me forever. Months later, when fall turns into winter, I re-evaluate my wardrobe, ultimately ending up with donation bags stuffed with outfits that were supposed to be impeccable.

Spring of 2012 started with no exception. Last Saturday I methodically examined my current tops and skirts, shoes and handbags. The conclusion, that I achieved after this thorough evaluation, was gloomy.

Ever had that mundane(…)

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Love Is Not Transactional. Or is it?

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, and everyone (well, almost everyone) was talking about expectations of gifts, dinners out, breakfasts in bed, rose petals on the floor, bubbles in the hot tubs and whatnot. Almost everyone expected something as a gift of love, something that would show that he or she cares.

One of my friends requested a Pandora bracelet from her boyfriend. The guy has three jobs and barely lives from paycheck to paycheck. Instead of doing some research, for example, just checking out Red Envelope prices and getting a better and a cheaper version, he went to Pandora store and got the(…)

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