Present Tense

_{Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash}

I find myself on the brink of the holidays and realize I have no desire whatsoever to buy things. You have to, because you're led to believe you do, but you don't. I don't know whence this change in me, because I've always loved Christmas. And while loving Christmas and buying a load of gifts are two completely different things, I am one of those people who just isn't happy if I hadn't bought a small pile for everyone in my life.
But something's changed and I don't exactly know how that happened. I tried telling myself it's because I understand how hard it is to earn money, but that's bull. I just sit on my ass all day and write stuff – I can't really complain, can I? Not if I don't want to get my butt kicked or something (I don't). Let's face it, I'm not financially struggling, I'm not working multiple jobs to make ends meet, I'm good. And yet, my perception of money has changed. Actually no, I still believe you should invest in experiences and all, perhaps it's just my perception of what's a worthy buy has changed.
Romania, like much of Europe, is doing its best at being a pale copy of the “mighty” US, a real shame, I know, but what can you do? And in its attempt to do that, it has adopted the consumerist attitude so rampant in the west. And slowly, it's making its way into our own minds. If we let it, of course.
I've always said that who we are, while influenced by external factors such as culture or parenting, is largely our choice. So it is with consumerism – the world around you might tell you that if it doesn't cost $100, it's crap, but that's up to you to decide, same as with anything else in life.
We're encouraged to look at the expensive sets of make-up and fancy-brand clothing and see them as worthy gifts. Impressive, no? After all, it does show I'd spend a couple hundred bucks on you. But what does that mean? Nothing, really. It's nothing at all.

_{Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash}

You can buy the same make-up, only without the brand, for less than half the price. Same with shoes, clothes and jewelry. But then, who are you if you're not trotting around town with a nicely-branded bag? Can you maintain your cool when all your colleagues have Gucci bags and you have a low-key no-name? Can you really go up to them and explain that for the rest few hundred dollars (that you saved on the bag) you went and bought food for the next month?
Sure. If you want to be the office loser. That's the real issue here. That we're buying into this crappy attitude and adopt it in how we treat others. You might know Jim is a great, smart guy. But Jim's car is old and pathetic in comparison to your BMW and you will look down on Jim for that, no matter how swell a guy he is, normally.

Or not. Again, it's up to you what kind of consumer you want to be. That's the funny thing, see? Because while I've never bought generic gifts (such as a perfume that says nothing or some bland rag), I've discovered I think within the same narrow parameters. Looking for Christmas gifts for those around me, my mind goes to the usuals...perfume, clothes, a bag, some jewelry...all made at the great big shopping mall. Well, most made by poor children and women who work much longer than they should and the rest of the “underprivileged”.

Funny term. Because we're oh so privileged on this side of the water, aren't we? We're all just slaves, brain-washed servants. And we choose to be that, each day. Because each day that you buy into this way of thinking, you're giving up a little more of your strength, of your independence. And you could stop at any time, but then, you'd have to ignore all the smirking, you'll have to explain to your friends when you give them a small hand-made gift that you no longer buy into all this consumerism crap. And you know that won't go down well, because they still do. And because they think you think you're better than them because of that. Make sense?

Oh well, I know it's much easier said than done. Well no, it is easy, but we like to imagine it's hard because then, we have an excuse to keep consuming.