Catching up on the newspapers accumulated during our travels, I discovered this column by Cathy Nickum in the October 27 Bainbridge Review, excerpted below:
Around here, you can be against global warming and world poverty, drive an SUV and spend $100 K remodeling your kitchen with no problem. It’s a comfy lifestyle.
I would go merrily along with my own personal political contradictions if it weren’t for the annoying voices of my teenagers who remind me to look at my lifestyle choices along with my election-year politics. They say what I buy at the grocery store is as important as who’s president.
The stereotype of our community is ripe with hypocrisy and I thought that Cathy Nickum captured it well in her piece titled A consumer conscience tormented.
Later, she entered into the subject of Costco commuting – and the thought that their family could live without the membership and the 40 minute drive…
We had a membership to Costco through Ted’s employment when we first moved here. But I too wondered whether the drive was worth the savings and we chose not to renew it. I have never been crazy about Costco and whenever I brought home the huge packs of groceries I felt guilty, as if I were Mrs. American Consumer. Nevermind that I don’t have space to store 20 rolls of paper towels…. From time to time though I wonder whether I was wrong. This piece by Cathy Nickum and a subsequent letter to the editor in response confirmed my suspicion that shopping locally on the island is better for everyone from health to pocketbook to local economy…
3 responses so far ↓
1 Chris // Nov 2, 2004 at 5:28 am
We dropped our Costco membership. Whatever savings we should have got on stuff we needed was offset by my inability to avoid throwing $25 of stuff that wasn’t on the list into the cart.
2 Katherine // Nov 2, 2004 at 7:46 am
I’ve still never been inside Costco. David has been a couple times since his mom got a membership. It remains an unveiled mystery for me, though I’ve lived near one for nine years. I’ve never felt like we had a big enough family to warrant the bulk purchases.
3 Kai Jones // Nov 2, 2004 at 12:30 pm
I’m not sure…what if buying at Costco leaves you additional discretionary income to spend on, say, art? Or books? Instead of having most of your income going to basics like food and household goods?
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