“What is there to do other than buy things?”
It was a casual, off-hand comment by a friend. We were
waiting for our dinner table, strolling the City Walk at Universal Studios
Orlando. Soon we would eat dinner at an
establishment famous for preaching the good life according to Jimmy Buffet and
Olaf: The sun and the sand, “with a drink in my hand.” It’s 5 o’clock
somewhere.
Believe me, my first time in Florida has given me
insight into the snowbird culture. Why deal with snow and ice when you can walk
under palm trees and sit on a beach? The air? It was heavenly. My skin? No
longer dry as sandpaper. My spirit? Refreshed and renewed by sun, water and
quality time with friends.
But those who know me know that I like to see both sides of
a coin. Vacations in places like this revolve around consumption. Now, is that
different than a vacation anywhere else? Don’t all places that invite our visit
expect a trip to the souvenir shop?
Perhaps. But the sheer number of attractions down here seems
overly focused on consumption. Today I was going to buy post-card stamps to
send a few back home (they’d arrive after I did, of course). You could purchase two
stamps for $1.25. Two post-card stamps at a US post office costs $.68. Why a mark-up
for stamps? Even a picture of where you’ve been costs more?!
I decided against the stamps but did end up buying
over-priced souvenirs for the kids. I’ll take home a Hogwarts’s Express T-Shirt
for Thomas, a shark shirt from Clearwater Beach for Luke and another Frozen cup
for Miriam. If I think too much about what I paid for them and what those who
made those items actually earn for their labor, guilt sets in. It’s so much
easier to have another margarita and not think about it.
What I’ll truly take home from Florida can’t be stuffed into my carry-on: gratitude for friends’ generosity, memories, laughter and time to
relax. Yet these gifts will be mixed with a deeper awareness of the lure of
stuff. I wonder how a shift away from vacation as consumption would be
restorative for us and for the earth itself?
No comments:
Post a Comment