My love/hate relationship with Costco

I am currently serving as the house-husband for the next couple weeks, easing the transition for the wife from 2-child Mom to 3-child Mom. (By the way, Wesley Wendell White was born on Feb 19th, and is a perfect little peanut of a person. More about him at a later date.) One of my duties as house-husband is to run errands, including shopping.

Today I was sent to Target, Trader Joe's, and Costco for everything from newborn diapers to apples. Since watching Super Size Me and Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices a few years ago, I have really tried to be a more discerning consumer. Recently re-reading Wendell Berry's Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community only solidifies my desire to buy local and avoid big-box stores and all that comes with them.

But man, it's not easy.

A friend who moved to Alabama a few years ago recently expressed a great deal of excitement about the opening of a Super Walmart in her community. I made a throw-away comment that she should stay far, far away. In reply she said that it's a lot easier to hold onto convictions in a place with so many options for shopping than it is in a place like, well, Alabama. 

She's right. But it's not that easy here either--especially when one factors in trying to adhere to a tighter budget. Big-box stores can save a family a lot of money.

But they still creep me out a bit. As I was wandering around Costco with that gigantic cart they give you, with no idea where anything was, I was alternately mesmerized and repulsed. This place is a consumer's paradise: big-screen TV's, palm trees, furniture, clothing, books, movies, and beef jerky--and I wanted to buy it all!

It also occurred to me that if I were homeless Costco would be at the top of my list of places to try to "stow-away" in. (I'm surprised there hasn't been a movie made about this already. Perhaps it's in the works at a studio: An executive is laid off, loses his house, and is too embarrassed to seek help. One night he accidentally gets locked in overnight at his local Costco... I would cast Tom Hanks in the lead.)

As I looked around at all the people filling up their giant carts, everything they seemingly need contained in this structure, I thought of Wall-E and the fictitious conglomerate Buy N Large that essentially wrecked planet earth in that film. Costco is sort of like that massive Buy N Large spaceship that the human race was confined to. You can exist there but your Life will probably start to ebb away, down a drain lined with affordable notebook computers and 20-packs of Crest toothpaste.

I suppose the Costco's of the world are always going to exist and I imagine I will from time to time still frequent them, but I won't ever feel comfortable with it. Exiting its doors with my purchases into the Pacific-ocean sized parking lot felt a little bit like escaping from something.

But, wow, what a deal I got on diapers.