Its status as a melting pot notwithstanding, our country clearly has vast differences among its regions. In the Midwest, there is one trait that seems to stand out: inconspicuous consumption.
I didn’t always notice it. Then, suddenly I realized some years ago that we Midwesterners are exceptionally adept at telling people how much we didn’t spend when we buy something. The East and West Coasts? It sounds different:
“Yup, I sold my place in the Hamptons and bought a penthouse condo in Naples. Won a bidding war and snagged it for $6.5 million.”
“This Ferrari? They only made 125. It’s even more rare than the Maserati I sold. Grabbed this for a cool $288,000.”
The Midwest? More like this:
“I bought a new lawnmower yesterday. Original price, $499. Wait, though. Had a friend who works there give me his employee discount. Got a senior discount ‘cause I’m over 50. It was another $10 off if you’d recently lost a pet. Five percent off for being an organ donor. A $25 credit for donating blood that morning right there in the store. A 15 percent off coupon from an independent bookstore that somehow, I could use at a hardware store. And. . . I brought in three canned goods for $5 off. The whole thing cost just $32!”
Pay attention to this from now on. I think you’ll find this happens more often than you think. Maybe it’s our Midwestern sensibility. That knack for putting our heads down and getting the job done without all that much fuss. Or maybe we’re just really cheap!
I’m Wester Wuori, I wrote the first draft of this with a cheap pen I found in the couch cushions, and that’s my discounted Perspective.
