Consumerism at its best? or worst?

Okay, so here's the deal. I moved to Washington DC from California last July for a new job. It has it's ups and downs and for the most part I am content being here. Sure it's tough being away from my family and all my friends that I spent so much time with growing up. But as a true Generation Y'er it could be much worse if I didn't have aim, yahoo messenger, msn messenger, g-chat, facebook chat, and myspace im to name a few. It helps me keep in touch with them and with everyone being online these days I can easily keep myself up to date with their lives (primarily through facebook - for some reason myspace lost its appeal once I left college). One of the top 10 things I miss about being in Caliornia? Having a car!

Every few months I rent a car (with my Discover Card cash back rewards I am able to turn $20 of reward $$$ into a $40 gift certificate to enterprise - makes me feel like I am paying less for the rental). I get a car and go on a massive shopping spree from Friday night through Sunday night. It really is amazing to see how many marketing gimics you take notice to when you aren't bombared by them everyday. Case in point - was walking through the dog food/pet aisle at Safeway (Not sure why, the only pet I have is my hamster Chloe. I'm sure it has something to do with the pure fact that I can so I feel that I have to maximize my visit to every store.) As I'm walking down the aisle, there it is. . . a display of Claritan right next to all the cat food. Obviously taking advantage of the significant other who puts up with cat allergies for the sake of a loved on. I feel I had many more examples of this but none of them are coming to mind and it is 2 in the morning so I'll finish this post later. Besides, my hamster is trying to jump off the table - time for both of us to turn in.