Doing My Part

Kamikaze drones are quite popular in Russia.

Money makes the world go round. From the minute I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night, it's buy, spend, buy more, spend more, buy two and get one free, buy today only and get half-off. 

I realize that if I never turn on the TV, or my computer, or look at a newspaper or my phone, I could avoid all that. But then I would know nothing about what's going on in the world and would be caught by surprise if a random bomb-carrying kamikaze drone falls on my house, which could happen. Besides, capitalism is what keeps America humming, and we all must do our part. 

So I turn on the TV and am assaulted by commercials for things I apparently should not be without but somehow I am and still survive. Even something as innocuous as Words With Friends online bombards me with suggestions about how my life would improve immeasurably by purchasing things I don't have, never heard of or couldn't use if I had one. This is capitalism. 

This is also capitalism: Today I stopped at a deli after my gym workout left me hungry. I ordered a turkey and Swiss wrap with lettuce, tomatoes and mustard and a cup of black coffee. Later on, eating my purchase at home, I discovered that I had paid $12.50 for a wheat wrap stuffed with a fat wad of lettuce, a sliced tomato, a trace of Swiss cheese and a sliver of turkey the size of a playing card, making me see that you don't always get what you paid for. 

Still, I did my part, and so far the sky above my house remains drone-free.