Lynda

Nooooo, not Wal-Mart the most evil of all corporate empires. Do you shop
the Gap and Old Navy, too?? For shame <g>

Lynda, who will not help them destroy anymore of America than they already
have.

----------
> From: "Susan and Theodore" <Stuff@...>

> I have the same problem
> BUT it is WALmart
>

SOS (some other susan)
>
> > Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com

David Albert

> > Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1999 17:56:32 -0800
> > From: megates@...
> >Subject: Re: CNN - Ready, set, shop! - November 26, 1999

Okay. Someone among you asked my rituals for the season. Here's an
interesting season ritual, though I've only done it three times. A
therapist would have a field day.

On the evening of Thanksgiving Day, I gather up all the ads for the
After Thanksgiving Sale -- we don't celebrate Christmas, but the sales
are good, I'm told (actually they just mark up the prices on all "winter

goods", and then take 40% off.) I decide what I 'need' or 'want' (when
I say "I", it is a "corporate I", like in family.) There's usually one
or at most two things, scattered around 6 or 7 different stores. I get
up at 6:00 a.m., having told my daughters how important it is to arrive
early, and having convinced them of the superiority of each particular
item in the store which is our destination.

We arrive at the first store a little before 7. Stand in line.
Purchase item. Then on to the next store, and the next. Sometimes we
have to choose among colors, or designs, or what-not. But no
tomfoolery. We stick to the list. We don't browse. We don't look at
pants in the store where we buy jackets, or ties where we get
bedspreads. We don't get distracted by trinkets. We avoid "smellville"
(that's what we call the cosmetics section.) And we stick to our list
of stores. No straying. By 11:00 A.M. we are home, 14 or 15 items in
hand.

By 11:30, after contemplating our booty, I have convinced myself, and
most of the family members, that at least half the things we have
purchased we didn't really need, or they aren't particular nice, or they

aren't any superior to the same item we saw for 10% of the price we paid

in the local thrift store. Over the next 3 days, we will bring at least

half the items back. I'll end up sending the extra money to India (or
to wherever I think it is needed.) -- or, it is true, in some cases,
I'll exchange what we bought for different stuff. But I'll have burned
up 10 gallons of gas, generated fair quantities of stress, and used up
good chunks of three days which we could have spent together in more
life-fulfilling activities in the process.

I think this is about my affirming that I have enough money in my
pocket, that I can do the mall thing like anyone else (I only do it once

a year!), and that the trappings of middle class America are there to me

for the taking. And then, after about four hours, nausea sets in, and I

begin retracing my steps.

Does anyone else suffer from this malady?

David Albert

(I have an abbreviated version of this malady which is specifically
related to K-Mart, which can occur at any time of the year. I go there
to buy underwear -- all right, I'm cheap! I'll wheel the cart around,
finding all kinds of different stuff I need or might use. But only for

approximately 7 minutes. It's always 7 minutes. If they can get me out
of the store within 7 minutes, they can ring up a big sale. But it
never happens. Nausea sets in at the 7 minute mark. I start dropping
items out of my cart randomly throughout the store. I'm sure they
wonder how the galoshes ended up next to deoderant. Until there is
nothing, or almost nothing left in the cart but the underwear. If the
checkout line is more than 5 people long, I am likely to abandon the
cart and leave. I have a lot of old underwear.

hmmmm....)

(I have a school/homeschool version of this same disorder, but I think I

have shared enough affliction for one evening.)



> --

Anthony Manousos calls "And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in
Homeschooling and Community-Based Education" "a joyous celebration of
the creative potential in every child." To read a sample chapter,
reviewers' comments, or the foreword, and for ordering info., visit my
website at http://www.skylarksings.com

Susan and Theodore

From: David Albert <shantinik@...>

(I have an abbreviated version of this malady which is specifically
> related to K-Mart, which can occur at any time of the year. I go there
> to buy underwear -- all right, I'm cheap! I'll wheel the cart around,
> finding all kinds of different stuff I need or might use.

I have the same problem
BUT it is WALmart
And I am the sucker who is abandoning and not adpopting these poor homeless
items and then replacing them for other models....I am in the store for
several hours and then I return home and find that I do have alot of old
underwear, but I have a new hair barrette (which feels most uncomfortable if
attempted to be worn as an undergarment)....I am the silly woman who cannot
leave the store without purchasing several items that I KNOW will make my
life easier.....
That is how I justify my purchases (I have even convinced my husband of
this!). I know that I do not lead a life of consumerism--is that the
correct terminology...BUT I do get caught up in the BUY
I have aproximately 1,200 worth of silly stuff on LAY away ---why lay
away--then I can pretend that I am not paying for it...I do think that I was
living some kind of fantasy as I am not even sure what items I have or NEED
if any...
I would not be surprised to pay for it all and come home with a juicer and
some perfume (I am allergic) and some really silly underwear (finally) that
rides up my BUTT!
I hope that I survive my crisis and I do know the trick--you have to pay for
lay away and then you can RETURN it all
YAHOOOO--otherwise they charge you some ridiculous fee....BUT maybe they
should----a "SUCKER fee"
I am trying hard and each year it seems to get worse---I think it is a
feeling of self worth that is placed upon these buying items and being the
best etc..that I am getting caught up in
And it is so funny because when we get together for the holidays, all the
kids want to do is go to the playground or chase each other about the house
BUT leggos
they are forever!
Maybe I should make a list of what I want and then donate the rest of the
items to charity--teach myself something EH?
BUT I am sure that it would include everything that I have on lay away!
Geez
Maybe tomorrow I will pick up one of my lay aways and return it all........
WAIT now I remember what is on one of them and wait I want that and that AND
I really need that and that AND that would make my life alot easier
MAYBE I should drink a beer or some valium--is there some drug for this?
SOS (some other susan)

Shay Seaborne

From: David Albert <shantinik@...>
Subject: Interesting Seasonal Ritual

<<<<I gather up all the ads for the After Thanksgiving Sale -- we don't
celebrate Christmas, but the sales are good, I'm told... I decide what I
'need' or 'want' (when I say "I", it is a "corporate I", like in family.)
There's usually one or at most two things, scattered around 6 or 7
different stores.>>>

David, I was with you up to this point. I used to have a ritual similar
to the rest of yours, but somehow I gave it up. Now, when I look at the
ads, and see the occasional item I "need," and think about the lines,
and the parking lot jams, and the stress-induced rudness I may encounter,
I say to myself, "If I *don't* buy this item, will I feel a huge lack in
my life?" The answer is virtually always, "No." The ads go in the
recycling bins, and I stay in my jammies, drink tea, and read an
interesting book I've been wanting to finish.
After several years of working at it, my family has dropped out of the
Christmas Frenzy. We don't celebrate the holiday any more, having
switched to Solstice/Yule--where the focus is on togetherness, observing
Nature's cycles, peace, and forgiveness. We still give a few gifts to
those closest to us. The great majority of these are self-made, using
whatever materials currently interest us. This year, it is small clay
ornaments and bowls.
There is so much "pressure" to stay in the Holiday Madness--from the
psychological barrage of advertisements, to relatives who insist on
sending stuff you couldn't care about, just because they *have* to send
*something*-- it can be a real challenge to break away from that habit.
Little by little, we do. Each step away from it brings us closer to a
meaningful holiday season.

-Shay

FOLC eclectic homeschool support group http://expage.com/page/folcfolks
VaEclecticHomeschool discussion list
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/VaEclecticHomeschool
Virginia Home Education Association
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~pm6f/vhea.html
National Home Education Network http://www.nhen.org

[email protected]

In a message dated 11/27/99 2:08:12 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Stuff@... writes:

<< Maybe tomorrow I will pick up one of my lay aways and return it all........
WAIT now I remember what is on one of them and wait I want that and that AND
I really need that and that AND that would make my life alot easier
MAYBE I should drink a beer or some valium--is there some drug for this?
SOS (some other susan) >>

Oh some other Susan I thought this was hilarious! My thing is books and
things I print off the web. I have went through 2 packs of paper so far with
things to read. And books! One of these books is going to change my life
4-ever if I ever get done printing so I can read it all.ROFL
Thanks,
Laura

[email protected]

I guess my procrastinating ways do me some good, since I never actually
make it out to any of the sales. Instead, since all the stray change in the
house is our Christmas fund, (one way to limit spending), I look at all the
ads in the paper and get motivated and start frantically digging in the
crannies of the sofa. By the time the weekend is over, I should have a
somewhat cleaner house, and some $50 in coinage but by then the fit will have
left me and it will be another week or so before I exchange it for bills at
the bank and blow it. All rather silly really.

Karen, (with Helen, 7, Agent of Chaos, and Gordon, 4, Agent of Destruction)

Susan and Theodore

> << Maybe tomorrow I will pick up one of my lay aways and return it
all........
> WAIT now I remember what is on one of them and wait I want that and that
AND
> I really need that and that AND that would make my life alot easier
> MAYBE I should drink a beer or some valium--is there some drug for this?
> SOS (some other Susan) >>
>
> Oh some other Susan I thought this was hilarious! My thing is books and
> things I print off the web. I have went through 2 packs of paper so far
with
> things to read. And books! One of these books is going to change my life
> 4-ever if I ever get done printing so I can read it all.ROFL
> Thanks,
> Laura
>

> Laura
>
So I did go today and I returned so MUCH stuff and these people were totally
unprepared for some crazy lunatice returning (before the holidays--they had
not even taken their return frenzy classes!)
Geez, but there is still alot to return and I hope that no one notices!
I am going to keep some stuff---well it is something I NEED I am sure
And then I am going to include a note--Like if I give them a game I will
give them a secret note that says that I will play it with them right then
or a picure to color or some type of toy and the next night a secret note
that says we are going to go to the park
SOMEthing
ANY thing
FREE
I am going to win the BATTLE
and be free
http://www.notmilk.com/index.html
Hey I was up till 3AM with this link that I found last night!
I hope that I am not the only one who finds it totally fascinting
HAVE fun SOS

>