Friday, February 27, 2009

An Ah-ha Moment

I had two moments today when I realized my life is not like the world I lived in when I was in D.C., as a young person in a double income, no kid situation.

One is that a friend of mine  got an awesome gig being the "wedding photographer" for an informational presentation by a Yoga clothing company that prides itself on being green called Lululemon. They apparently started in Canada (which of course grabbed my attention) and have created franchises in all the urban sectors of the world. The presentation is for brides, so they can learn the benefits of having a "green" wedding. (Bride  = Consumer)

And you know me, I'm all for being nice to Mother Earth. But the whole event made me shift in my seat because even though the event is to do something ecological, the idea of a cupcake party at a yoga clothing company with a collection of women who are looking to spend a lot of their money in a down economy made me call rat. That ain't about Mother Earth. That's called laying a trap. Bait-the-consumer. (Again Bride = Consumer)

So I went to lululemon.com. I clicked on their exercise clothes, and of the four items I clicked on, not one had a price. The hint of money was in the air, like when you sit down in a restaurant in New York or Vegas and there are no prices on the menu. So I googled it. $100 for yoga tops. $100 for pants give or take. People striving to find tops for $74 on Ebay.

I sighed. I don't have $200 for a yoga ensemble, I don't have $40 for a fancy yoga ensemble from Target. Those things aren't in my weekly budget. Um, those things have never been in my weekly budget. I yoga in $7, 7-year-old workout pants with an old ratty t-shirt. But, that might just be a preference, so it made me wonder, who still has that kind of money? 

Maybe, maybe double income no kids? If I wasn't married and was still in D.C. and someone said, "cupcake, eco-friendly wedding discussion, rich yuppie (ain't that an oxymoron that turned out true in the 21st century?) yoga clothes = good time" would I jump at the chance to go? 

Are the cupcakes vegan and are the ingredients locally grown? 

But from where I am, I am so far removed. The whole event is mind boggling. Am I that out of touch? Or is it the other way around?

The second crazy came from The Superficial, so you know, it's grain of salt time. But K-Fed making a line of "reasonably priced clothes" because he's sick of  boutique kids clothes that sell a pair of jeans for $200 a pop tells me that rich parents need a seminar. I think I'll bake some cupcakes and host it at my local consignment shop and talk about how green hand-me-down/gently used clothes are. We could take a field trip to the Orpheum's Kids Stuff Sale March 7 and 8th.

Mmm, I see a business plan for reasonable parents everywhere that see more than green as the new black... I think I'll start by sending a registration form to K-Fed, Brad and Angelina, Katie and Tom... 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is one of the reasons that i'm a bit turned off by the studio I've been going to. If I forget my clothes, I run to Target instead of having to try to find a "cheap" outfit at the studio's shop, and cheap is a tank and pants for under $150.

And have you been in a Starbucks lately? (I'm still getting caffeinated and fed by gift cards.) They're selling "green" mugs and giving 10 cents off coffee when you refill it. The first R is REDUCE! OK, I'll get off my soapbox.

SunnyD said...

I have to admit, I haven't been to a Starbucks since December. I'm not a coffee drinker by habit (which you, of all people know). But yeah, the $4 mocha kind of went out the window in favor of buying my kid a $4 toy a week to get him through shopping without a tantrum.

Anonymous said...

You are not out of touch, you are not far removed--THEY are. Granted, I've never lived in a truly urban locale, so all I can offer is a solidly mid-westerners perspective... but most people I've ever known would not have paid that kind of money for exercise clothes even in a healthy economy and with a comfortable amount of disposable income. Most people I know who are "green-minded" do so because they have a real desire to do their part, and that if they wanted to have a green wedding, they would not need a fancy($$)-pants yoga company tell them how to do it.

In all honesty, it seems a little hypocritical to say that we ought to conserve one kind of resource, but yet ask customers to pay $200 for exercise clothing. That's just as wasteful... unless of course they are donating $180 of that to green charities.

So no, you're not out of touch at all. It's all about perspective. Those yuppie, dual-income no kids types will see it one way. Those of us who have a different lifestyle see in another.

Oh, btw, I have TONS of "gently used" clothes for little Shiloh, Vivienne, and Suri. So, when my best friends Angie and Katie RSVP, let me know, 'k? :) (I don't have boys so screw K-Fed.)