One Woman's Perspective

‘TIS THE SEASON
by Kira Sampson

he season to receive catalogs, that is. There is a bewildering variety of merchandise available to us and the merchandisers want to make sure that we see every last bit of it, in full color.

Now, I'm not going to go into a harangue about the meaning of the season and how it's become so terribly commercial and all that. Everyone knows that -- and besides, it's been done to death. My question is, why are there so many products available? Do we really need to have a dozen different types of waffle irons to choose from? I mean, I can see having your round ones, your square ones, your Belgian ones, and your dual ones, but beyond that, what's the difference -- and who cares? Why are we spending so much of the earth's energy and resources making not only frivolous products, but duplicates of frivolous products?

I recently received an upscale cook's catalogue which contained, among sensible kitchen tools like pots, pans, and spatulas, the following items:

• a bagel guillotine (for bagels with a death-wish?);

• a parsley mincer (do you use enough minced parsley to justify buying this, at 20 bucks a pop? I sure don't);

• three different types of garlic peelers/presses (well, maybe...if you're Italian);

• an electrically heated crisper for storing potato chips, cereal, etc. (no comment);

• chocolate flavored spoons that melt in your coffee.

Keep in mind, this was a serious chef's catalogue, not the kind that have plaques with cute little sayings like "For dinner, I'm making...reservations" and cookie jars shaped like Porky the Pig.

And don't get me started on toys and novelties. There is just so much junk out there. At Halloween my son and I went into a costume and novelty shop where there were bins and bins of little plastic items like spider rings and skeleton key chains. What happens to this stuff when Halloween is over? Does it go into the back room until the next Halloween? Doesn't it get dusty and shopworn after a while?

Now, despite appearances, I'm not a curmudgeonly person, and I enjoy having fun as much as the next person. What I don't enjoy is waste -- and that's what our society is doing, on an incredible scale. We are wasting the earth's resources on trivial, useless things.

But the fact is, folks -- they wouldn't make them if we weren't buying them. So what does that say about us?

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Kira Sampson is a writer, homeschool mother, news editor, and editor/publisher of two newsletters, one for her local homeschool group and the other for a local writer's group.

She is also one of the Founders of People for Children & Animals, Inc. Her column, One Woman's Perspective, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.