BUT IT'S SOOOOooooooo CHEEEeeeaaaaP!

We all need a few basic necessities every so often...a loaf of bread, some 2% moo juice, a few pantry staples and since we're at it, it's probably high time that hole riddled socks be replaced with a crisp, day-glow-white 18-pack. We're not talking about an extravagant shopping spree - just the basics. Let's face it, though...even a few necessities do add up.

Upon surveying the vacuous, tumbleweed-territory of our wallets, we are prompted to gulp unceremoniously, for that can mean only one thing - better hit the Big Box ‘O Grub-N-Goods Super Store. You know the one. It's the type of monolith consumer emporium with a football stadium-sized parking lot...the kind of structure that anchors the main street of Anywhere, USA...the one that seduces us (in spite of our economic despair) with smiley-face-emblazoned "You KNOW You Wanna Try It!" signs - Just $2.876 with a free sweat shop souvenir of your choice!

Oh, the shame of it all. For consumers who are dialed into the real, behind-the-scenes cost of their cheap Chinese plastic doo-hickeys, Spanish language-inscribed toothpaste tubes and Guatemalan tailored tank tops, their conscience is often times forced to take a back seat to the bottom line - that glorious white receipt itemizing a laundry list of eye-popping, budget-friendly purchases.

A sing-songy chorus of: "Can you believe I got all of this stuff for so cheeeeeap?" can regularly be heard emanating through the exit doors with equal parts triumphant and sheepishly-resigned guilt. Visions of sweaty 10 year old children who work 16 hour shifts to produce the material items of our affection (for the equivalent of one US dollar a day in a land far-far away) are conveniently tucked away for rainy day reflection. After all, who can justifiably muster the energy to boycott America's beloved super stores, the very same benevolent leviathans that enable us to restock our homesteads so economically?

And thus, the cycle of humanitarian injustice soldiers on for another day, month, year...... Our relationship with strategically-merchandised, mind-bogglingly packed-to-the-gills superstores can be perceived as both bitter and sweet. While navigating the aisles can be an exercise in endurance, time management and chronic indecision, its hallowed halls beckon us to explore, ogle and impulsively seal the deal at every conceivable turn. We need it! We want it! We have to have it!

We are essentially rendered weak at the knees whenever we pass by a shiny, spangley object of desire. Shopping has become a regular, reliable form of recreation for us...an event. Amid prominently displayed mouse-sized free samples of snick-snacky edibles and larger-than-life Disney-franchised gobbledygook, one faces the formidable challenge of sticking to their list of laughable necessities. Even those with the strongest of constitutions may find themselves caving into the easily justifiable purchase of a $4.93 crate of 8000-piece Legos, whether or not children are a part of the household.

And so, we methodically weave through the aisles, evaluating 12 different varieties of Kraft American Cheese slices, scrutinizing the latest dangling garden ornament, contemplating the estimated taste sensation of Pop Tarts' new Pomegranate Green Tea flavor and succumbing to our need for an econo-pack of Twinkies. Who can actually remember what the initial purpose of our shopping excursion was for, anyway?

If you take a moment to nonchalantly peek into the shopping cart of your friend, neighbor, or insignificant other, you will likely see incontrovertible evidence that people are racking up hefty credit card debt on the purchase of non-nutritive, shiny, slickly-packaged junk, heavy on the plastic and sugar. Very few items that are plunked down in front of the cashier can truly qualify as "food" or household necessities -- perhaps your very own cart looks the same. Junk food and plastic junk-ol-a, though cheap, ends up padding our bill and when all is said and done, we have very little to show for our investment of time and expense.

Surely there must be a better way to preserve our fiscal resources, provide for our families and resist the recreational shopping bug (thinly veiled as a quick trip to the store for one dozen eggs). The very act of shopping should not define our existence, and cheap stuff does not necessarily mean it's GOOD, valuable-to-our-lives STUFF. STUFF, by its very definition is "worthless matter or things". Perhaps it's high time that America re-evalute its priorities.........