The Non-Consumer Advocate

Remember how exciting it was when cordless phones first entered our lives? It was finally possible to be stuck on the phone with great-aunt Hilda while simultaneously switching a load of laundry! (Before that, I used an extra long curly cord which I stretched throughout my entire apartment!) Then came cell phones which quickly went from “for emergency situations” to “for checking our Facebook.”

Times change.

Cordless telephones are no longer the revelation they were in 1994, and although I resisted the temptation of a smart phone until a few months ago, it’s now an important tool in my daily life. And I no longer even have a landline.

Could I go back to a time when phone calls were made within a certain curly radius of our home phone? Of course I could. But will I?

Only if there’s a zombie apocolypse.

I was at Safeway yesterday, making sure to use my $10-0ff $50 coupon before it expired. (Please don’t envy my glamorous life, it’s very unbecoming of you.) I always ask my kids if there’s a treat they would like. My older son wanted a tin of smoked oysters and my younger son wanted a single-serve yogurt. I pointed my shopping cart towards to the yogurt aisle and was struck by how many Greek-style yogurts filled the shelves. Every major manufacturer had their own version, and there were lots of brands unheard of from even a year ago. I decided to go with Tillamook as A) it’s a local brand, and B) it was on sale.

The small Greek yogurt was $1 and the traditional version was 50¢.

When did Americans make the move to paying twice as much (or more) for their yogurt? Yes, it’s thicker and has more whey drained and is therefor pricier to produce, but c’mon people . . . weren’t we recently happy with regular yogurt?

Is Greek yogurt the new cell phone?

Lifestyle inflation, whether it’s a smart phone or a more expensive yogurt affects us. Not necessarily because the extra expense puts us in the poor house, but because once we’ve experienced a luxury product, it’s hard to go back to that which we once completely satisfied.

“Wow, this yogurt is super runny!”

I’m not suggesting that we resist all new technologies, but instead that we acknowledge that each newly purchased advance changes our perception. (Not to mention that disposing of all that extra whey has become an environmental nightmare for yogurt makers.)

Do you embrace each new technologic advance or do you hold out until it’s painful to not do so? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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After a ten day trip, this will always be day eleven:

I bought zero souvenirs, brought home no new stuff and only overspent on experiences. But dirty laundry is oppressively omnipotent and ever present. It cannot be denied.

I only wish it was an April’s Fools day joke.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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Today I am . . . 

• Staying at my sister’s apartment in Manhattan.
• Walking my sister’s dog.
• Visiting with my sister’s in-laws who just filled her fridge with homemade chicken soup and various goodies. (Yum!)
• Going on a Sweatshop Workers tour at the Tenement Museum, which also includes an extra discussion period.
• Meeting up with an old college chum, as he gets free Museum of Modern Art Tickets, meeting up with old friends and arranging other various meet ups.
• Completely happy with the Bolt Bus trip we took yesterday from Washington D.C. to New York City. My husband was extremely skeptical with this choice, but he ended up being pleasantly surprised with the experience.
• Wishing it wasn’t so freaking cold.

Now your turn. What are you doing today.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

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