"LIFE ETC."

A Confession
Dear fellow consumer, I confess to you that I’ve sinned against our culture of consumption. If my sin was about belief, I’d confess to a believer. Since it's completely about consumption, I’ll confess to you.
I confess that I’ve acted against my duty of consuming as much as possible, of as great variety as I can. Until recently, I was a true consumer, doing my best to use my entire capacity to buy things up to the limit of my credit card.
But something bad happened a week ago.
I considered it a harmless misfortune at the beginning, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more conscious I've become of my deviance.
A week ago, I was going to the city center on one of our school's shuttle buses. When I got off the bus, I realized that I'd lost my beret. Nothing was wrong up to this point. In fact, I was happy when I realized that this loss was an excuse for me to visit a denim shop and do what
I had to do: buy another beret and spend some money.
So, the day after, I went to a shopping center and saw the same store where I’d bought my old beret. I remembered how much I'd liked my old one. So, I decided to buy the same beret. I must admit that I was tempted by how happy I was with the old beret and the fact that I’d bought it only two months ago.
I know that these are not good excuses. I know that I forgot about the necessity of buying a new style and a new color every time.
Unconscious of this,
I didn't realize my error and started to wear the beret. When I told a friend what I'd bought, her reaction ("Did you buy the same beret? But why?") made me see the truth: I'm a sinner.
Now I’m before you, ashamed of myself as a disloyal consumer. I know that I don't deserve forgiveness, but I want you to know that the next time I’ll search for a brand-new collection, a brand-new cut, and a brand-new color.
I hope that my greed to possess never gets blinded again by my tendency to keep using what I'm happy with.

orhan@ug.bcc.bilkent.edu.tr