I am immediately suspicious of all salespeople. And to see a bleach blonde
and a fat man (charming in his own self-effacing way, referred to himself as
'fat bastard' at one point) represent the jumbo consumerism of Costco seemed
to confirm my suspicions.
But how seductive! Cheap, cheap, cheap. A sated devil perched on my left
shoulder: "Well, Lee, you have to buy toilet paper eventually. Who cares
where you buy it? Why not save a buck or two?" A beneficent hippie perched
on my right: "You know they can offer those low prices because they force
suppliers to lower their prices- for example, they threaten American
manufacturers with shifting their purchases to China. They drive local
stores out of business. Don't support the race to the bottom and further
corporate consolidation, data gathering, tracking of your lifestyle, ever
more targeted marketing..." I went with my instincts, took a muffin, and
left. Because the truth is, I don't shop very much anymore. I have most of
what I need, except for the ever diminishing supply of toilet paper and the
salad that creates the need for it- which, eventually, I'll grow myself.
If I ever need a new car, and Costco can in fact leverage millions of
bloated consumers to knock $4,000 off the tag as Melanie testified (kind of
like a revival meeting with muffins at the church of consumerism, it was) I
might sign up, buy my car, buy my toilet paper, the turn around and cancel
my membership and demand a refund. After all, it's my God given right as an
American!
I love ad-busting. Culture-jamming. I just saw an ad off of hwy 99 for the "Street of Dreams", an event where construction companies and home improvement biz put up million dollar mansions full of the latest widgets, and ordinary working folks actually pay to walk through and view the advertising. The ad text, "Street of Dreams", had been altered with spraypaint, and artfully with bubble letters, to read "Street of BELCH". Thanks for the laugh! Wish I had a pic.
