CONSUMERISM

This is not a story about the store in the picture, more a thought about consumerism in general. I watched over my son a moment ago as he tried to buy a special newly released trainer/sneaker online. Only 27k of these apparently were being made available and 0800 UK time was the moment you could press GO on the purchase button. I suspect 0800 translated to midnight LA time, where this sneaker release would have had a particular and understandably personal resonance. We’d done everything we needed to; joined the brand’s membership, entered address and card details. Mere seconds after the sale went live we were prompted to enter the three digit security code. Bang. Done. We were put in a holding pattern, to be told minutes after that there was a problem with our payment details. There were I suspect no problems with our inputed digits, I suspect we timed out or something similar. In binary terms, computer said nooooo. My son refreshed the page still with a hope in his heart, to find the only sizes left would suit someone aged three and under. They were all gone, in less than ten minutes. Gone. Within moments, sales went up elsewhere from bots that had been far more successful and the sneakers were being sold for twice, three and four times the RRP. Bots and Greed United 1 - Normal person on the street 0. A part of me, just a part mind (looking across to my son), felt content, that we hadn’t won this rather obscene marketeer’s vision to pray on the anxiety of those who have been told you can only enjoy the spoils of newness, if you are prepared to step over the soles of others.