When I got up just now, as I arose from the throne, I happened to glimpse an ad on a sale paper that had been left there cross-ways of the waste-paper-basket.It was a display of facial care products...blurry, indistinct, which may or may not have been labeled,"your cosmetic here."At that instant, several thoughts flashed through my mind. Yeah! Why don't they design their lotions and potions and creams to the individual customers specifications? It's not like they don't have the technology to do that. But then I realized that some small groups do, do that. They have a very small select clientele, and those who use their services pay through the nose for it...happily. It is costly, because they can't mass produce and sell in bulk something meant just for Cher, or Oprah...or even Tiger,Elton, or Mick, irregardless of the "designer fragrance" craze, because now, I guess everybody wants to smell like Liz or Britney! (How silly is that?) But no, having been in sales myself, I finally came to the realization of the true reason why this isn't done on a wider scale...and why commercial advertising is so important, and even necessary. If you wait for the public to come to you, and ask you for what they want, you will wait for a very long time. Not because they don't want it or need it, but because they don't know they want it! That is what sales is all about. With most people, you have to take them by the hand, lead them to what it is they want, tell them they want it, and why,what it's going to do for them,and how happy it's going to make them, and then, you tell them how much they are going to pay for it. And no, this is not just limited to cosmetics, although that industry is the most obvious about it's tactics,because, um, let's face it. Cosmetics, by their very classification, is not, even though they try to tell you they are, I repeat, is not, a necessity of life! Look about you. This is the attitude of every commodity of everyday life. Food,clothing, medicine, appliances, the list goes on and on,and the further down the list we go, the less important the things become, and the louder the advertisers shout to get your attention, just to convince everyone that they really are important! They don't want you to catch on that they are really the ones creating in you the desire for these things, and therefore making it a necessity, so they are not going to let you stop and think about that...so let's stop and think about that. So, let's go down that list again, and see what is really important. Food. Definitely important. Can't live without it. Even fast food, marginally important, for days like this, when it's a hundred degrees out there,and way too hot to cook,okay? However, there was a time when fast food was a luxury, and almost unheard of. What folks did was to cook ahead, and survive on fresh fruits and vegetables, salads, cold cuts and bread and lots and lots of very cold water, through hot summer days. You'll notice that bottled water wasn't even on my list. Why? Because most of us have tap water, and let's face it, that bottled water, is someone else's tap water...even the flavored water,or bottled tea, is just water, with flavoring or tea thrown in! Out of your tap, it's probably about 2 cents. A little more if you add flavor or tea, but not much more. So what you pay for is the convenience of someone else providing the bottle,for at least a buck, and then, you go and throw it away, and guess what? You go and buy another bottle! How nice of you to do that! Pay at least a dollar for a bottle...Oh! And those sports drinks, that are soooo necessary? Put some kool-aid and sugar in that water, pour it into a bottle and stick in the fridge for a couple of hours! Same thing ! Okay? I rest my case on that. Back to the list. Clothing. Yes, it is important. One must cover one's body! However, it is not important to run out and buy new clothing at the change of every season. That is a fallacy thought up by fashion designers who are making a bundle on your vanity! If I am wrong, then explain to me how it is necessary to go out and purchase several pairs of (ugh) jeans that look like they have been worn to death by someone else, been picked out of the trash, washed, starched,labeled,and put back out there for you to buy as new? Just how darn gullible are you, anyway? Honey, let me clue you in. You been had! If it doesn't at least look new? Then it isn't new! So look down at yourself right now,and if those snazzy new jeans you just had to have are ripped up, torn out at the knees, faded and worn,then you could have saved yourself a whole lot of money by just going down to the thrift store and buying someone else's hand-me-downs. Case closed. All that is necessary when buying new clothes is that they are clean,and neat, and in good taste,and if you take good care of them, they should last you for years! Even coats can be taken to the cleaners in the fall, cleaned and mended,and worn another year! Back to the list. Medicine. If the doctor tells you to take it,take it, but get the generic brand if you can, and never go in and ask the doctor if you need a pill that you heard about on television! That's silly! He is the professional here. If you go asking for something he will conclude you are some sort of hypochondriac,and write you out a prescription just to make you shut up and go away, and never take your complaints seriously again! If you truly have a problem, tell him your symptoms, and let him decide what you need to do about it! Back to the list. Appliances. If it works, use it,and keep it clean as possible. If it stops working, replace it, within your means. Again, It's nice to have the pretty, top of the line refrigerator with the ice and water on the door, but if it's outside of your price range,clench your teeth,admit you don't need it, and go on. With that, and your stove and mixer, you can prepare almost any sort of meal,so the rest of your kitchen appliances, while nice to have, still aren't necessities! Toaster? No. You can make toast without a toaster, in the oven. As my mother used to joke, burned black in the oven, and scraped in the sink to a beautiful golden brown!And any food that needs more done to it than a mixer can do? Like chipping, chopping,or the like, such as some special machine can do, can be done, with a little extra effort, by hand, with knives.Again, those machines are a luxury item. That is why they have the nerve to charge such ridiculous prices for them! Coffee pot? Well, you can make coffee without a coffee pot,but I grant you that it won't be as good,without a filter,so if you must have coffee,and you have non-working coffee maker, set up the basket just as you would normally, and set in on the clean pot, then heat the water on the stove,and once it is hot, pour the water into the basket a little at a time, and wait for it to drizzle it's way down through the grounds and the filter, into the pot, becoming fresh brewed coffee, before you fill it again.Or, if you have an old percolator type that has quit,you can do the same thing, but the results won't be quite as good. If you have no coffee pot, working or otherwise, then you must get truly energetic.You will need a large sauce pan, cheesecloth and twine,and of course, fresh coffee grounds. With the cheesecloth and grounds make a packet tight enough to keep the grounds from going out of the cloth, but loose enough so the water can come in touch with the grounds,and tie it up tightly with the twine. The configuration of the packet is up to you, whether to put the grounds in the very center of the cloth and then fold it over and down repeatedly to cross the cheesecloth weave enough to prevent the grounds from coming out of the cloth, or just to make a ball shape of it,and draw the ends up and tie it off with the twine at the top is up to you. Either way, you then put the packet into a gently steaming pan of hot water,and cook it until the coffe is as strong as you like it,and then pour it,or dip with a ladel,or cup, into more cheesecloth, laid over the top of your coffee cup,and thereby strain out even more coffee grounds. If you don't want to go through all this, or can't find everything you need, you can still make coffee, by just putting the coffee and water into a sauce pan, and boiling it. Do not stir, but allow as much of the grounds to settle to the bottom of the pan as possible, and then when you pour, or dip the coffee out, use a clean piece of cloth over your cup to strain out the grounds. If you cannot abide grounds in your coffee at all, then I suppose a coffee pot is a necessity for you,but you can live without it! But you can buy a brand new coffee pot, that will make excellent coffee for just a few dollars, so you don't have to pay a high price for it. Iced tea maker? Oh, come on now! A few years ago, I was hooked on iced tea, and my family gave me one of those for a birthday present, not because I wanted one, but because I was rabid about iced tea,and they were tired of my whistling tea pot going off at all hours of the day and night! Somewhere along the line I lost my fascination with iced tea, although I still like it, it is not my mainstay as it once was,and when I happened to run across the machine they had bought me, it took me a while to figure out what it was!
So you see, when you go down the rest of your list, do some honest soul searching, to help you separate your needs from your wants, and seek ways to resist the lies you are being told by the advertisers. We are spending way too much on things that the commercials have convinced us we can not live without. I say, it's time we made that decision for ourselves!
OUI?
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