Extreme Consumerism



WARNING: Excess use may cause hoarding. Image from here

 When TLC’s Extreme Couponing comes on, I’m glued to the TV like the other millions of viewers that have begun a new reality show addiction. I’m fascinated by the totals going from $50,000 to $.50, but what really keeps me coming back is my disgust for it all.

Don’t get me wrong – I use coupons too (when I remember to bring them), but I’m not threatening to slit the mailman’s throat every Tuesday if he doesn’t surrender extra bulk mailers.

What this show should really be called is Extreme Consumerism. Why are you at the grocery store in the first place when you have a stockpile at home that could keep your 15 children well-fed three years after the zombie apocalypse? One family had over 300 bottles of Squirt soda. Three words: Who needs that? It is organized hoarding!

Another family actually took out an extra insurance policy on their stockpile that had taken up two bedrooms and was threatening a third. Doesn’t that negate the whole idea of getting free food if you’re just paying the GEICO gecko to keep it safe from “acts of God”?

Especially after going to Ghana, my views on this are skewed. In Ghana, like many countries, you eat what is available; you don’t have the luxury of choosing between pizza, sushi, burritos, pork rinds or any other food your inner fat child is craving. In Ghana, you’re probably eating chicken, rice, plantains or foo foo for just about every meal. Having a personal food stockpile is a luxury most people in other countries couldn’t even conceive of. In fact, relying on a grocery store for all your food needs is a luxury many can’t conceive of. As Americans, we’re so jaded by the convenience of accessing food. Extreme Couponing takes this notion…well, to the extreme.

Sure, getting free food is great, and I understand that when times are tough, you do what you gotta do to put food on the table. But if you can barely consume your food before its expiration date, you may have gone overboard. Not to mention, most of the foods on coupon are processed, which would explain the morbid obesity that seems to plague many of these extremists.

The amount of time people spend collecting and organizing coupons is a full-time job. You could actually be getting paid real money for a real job instead of dumpster diving for coupons and demanding management to override your 70 coupons for children’s Dimetapp. That’s right – you don’t even have kids.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but extreme couponing is consumerism at its worst.

What do you think of Extreme Couponing?