We get an occasional distress signal from Miss Em, dear daughter so far away: My boots are leaking! My shoes broke again! I'm dressed in rags!
Yes, Miss Em went off to Serbia last fall with two giant suitcases, for a four-season stay, in a country where the consumer goods are--she was warned--low quality and expensive. What an opportunity, we thought. An opportunity to stop acquiring so much.
Miss Em had succumbed to retail temptation many, many times over the preceding two years, partly as a result of youth, partly as a result of stress, partly as a result of peer pressure, and mostly because of the constant bombardments of consumer culture. She had spent way too much money.
How lucky to have an enforced time out. And lucky too to have a way back to the land of economic opportunity, which Serbia is not.
Now things are winding down. She has given away her heavy winter coat to a friend who has helped her in many ways. It says something (what, I am not quite sure) that the coat, a faux shearling from LL Bean, was acquired for a mere $5 at Goodwill. She gave the same friend a cashmere scarf that I picked up on sale for $10. No wonder we accumulate too much! No wonder that we so seldom wear anything out (I, at least, usually donate long before there's much wear).
Soon, we will visit Miss Em in Serbia and--I hope--get to thank all the people who have shown her so many kindnesses. Maybe we'll even get to see the shoe repair guy.
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4 comments:
"partly as a result of youth, partly as a result of stress, partly as a result of peer pressure, and mostly because of the constant bombardments of consumer culture. She had spent way too much money."
It is SO hard to convince young people, and plenty of old people too, that we are not a sum of our belongings. Our belongings don't define us, but there is a powerful multimillion dollar industry that says otherwise. I think it is useful to travel to places with a different cultural expectations just for this reason - otherwise it is too easy to get trapped in our comfortable first world bubble.
Have a wonderful trip to Serbia - are you visiting any other places? When does your daughter head home? Will she get to travel anywhere else prior to leaving?
We are awash in cheap goods (and calories) in North America, but quality is not cheap, and that to me is an important lesson: to buy fewer things, but things that last. But that is a lesson more often learned in places where quality can be studied, if not yet acquired. Anyway, I'll bet you're twitching with eagerness to see her.
I love Miss Em's graphic memoirs!
How exciting to visit Serbia. It's not the usual tourist trap so far as I know. It will be interesting to see if your daughter's outlook is altered by her experiences there.
@Gam Kau--I am a bad influence myself, I'm afraid. Mr FS and I will also go to Paris and Brussels, but are most excited about Serbia!
@Duchesse--I will pass on the compliment. I think Miss Em's stuff is falling apart because she has little and has been washing it a lot.
@Shelley--We are so excited to be going. We have a family connection, almost lost.
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