How Bourgeois

I woke up two days ago with the crumpled information paper from inside the box of my new overly priced eye cream between my sheets. I had taken the folded guide with me to bed thinking that I'd partly justify the purchase of my cream by reading about the fabulous medicinal/healing properties of green fig. It took me so long to scroll through each paragraph looking for the English text amongst the dozens of other languages that I just gave up and fell asleep.

I was extra sleepy two nights ago because I'd had a horrible fight over the phone with my cell phone/internet provider. My cell bills the last two months have been ridiculously high -- $150 plus and I decided that since my internet had suddenly ceased to work it was as good a time as any to get the guys on the phone. Are you aware that "daytime" hours end at 9pm? When did 9 become the new 6? Anyway, I shamefully accosted the poor young girl on the customer service line until I got a manager who switched my plan to daytime starting at 6 and who refunded the hour that I'd been talking to her -- which after inquiry I realized I'd have paid for.

Yesterday, during my final half hour of work, a colleague and I starting on about women's obsession with overly priced denim. I admitted that the jeans I had on cost over $200 and I started feeling dull and meaningless for talking about such things around the holiday season when others were donating to charities or baking fruit loaf or something besides self-indulgence. I never used to even consider the idea of buying $200 jeans. I'm from the country where that's unheard of. My mom would be disgusted.

And let's not forget that I've been draining specialty $4 coffees at least once a day and nibbling on decedent bonbons that often go half eaten into the garbage. As we speak I'm licking spinach cream cheese off my fingers.

I'm a little tired this morning because I had a dinner party last night, which was fun times except that I think I drank too much draft beer and it was sitting like a cess pool in my stomach when I awoke. I thought I could counterbalance the problem by drinking a 500ml carton of chocolate milk but the situation hasn't improved.

Well... something I'll be thinking about over the next few days is what kind of gesture I'll do this holiday season that doesn't directly involve money or pleasure to me.

Any ideas are welcome.