American Consumer

I recently realized that when I hear about 'The American Consumer' I am one of them, as I consume one medium skim cappucccino when I come to this coffee shop to use their internet connection. Other things I consume: books, pens, paper, CDs, a few pairs of jeans and a shirt or two. That's about it. I pay rent or mortgage but that doesn't seem so much consumption as a condition of life. I eat. I almost forgot about that, and I have a weakness for fish from West Point Market.



I have always had a visceral disgust reaction to the idea of 'The American Consumer' so I suppose I must consider myself part of a somewhat disgusting group, but I am ok with that as I actually derive a great deal of pleasure from what I consume, even though it is fleeting. I also consume the local parks, where I walk my dog Harley, sometimes with my dear friend Lisa. I love to consume the parks. Last evening, while consuming a park, I consumed several snapping turtles, one extremely large, with his own ecosystem growing on his back, moss and all--a real Horton Hears a Who world. I also consumed a medium sized turtle and a smaller one, as well as two different kinds of herons, one of which caught and consumed a fish. I consumed numerous carp, and, as the evening wore on, several gnats and mosquitos consumed Lisa and me, which only seemed fair.



This morning, after consuming one another, Lisa and I came here--though Lisa was uncertain whether or not we should walk Harley before or after we came here. Lisa likes to write here and sometimes I get to hear sentences or paragraphs or groups of paragraphs she has written. I tend to write at home, especially when no one else is around, or late at night, or early in the morning, with no rhyme or reason except I get a story caught in my gut like a bug of some sort, a germ. I like the idea of a germ, because it has two sides. One kind of germ causes a disease, the other causes growth, or has growth as its main property.



I suppose that brings you completely up to date, whoever you are, and I am glad of that.



Your Correspondent,

Bob