I could help but recall what one of my sociology professors I had during the summer told the class. Although no one really liked her due to her cynical and almost overbearing military personality, we all had respect for her because she was more enlightened than most of the other adjacent and part-time professors. The lesson was about shopping and its economy. We discussed about how capitalism abuses its workers in order to drive down the prices to what consumers want. That notion left me a guilty conscious and a heavy heart for a long time. I like to shop, and I love sales and deals… but its difficult to truly enjoy savings when I know that people suffer and work endlessly to make these items for minuscule wages.

I digress for a moment.

I am a college student without a job, because my parents want me to focus on my studies so I can persist onward to a better future. I am really grateful that I have this opportunity to not worry about extraneous bills and such. I get a refund check (that seem to decrease in amount year after year) from my financial aid, and I try to live off that so I will not have to ask my parents for money.

With my little dilemma in mind, I cannot help but wonder if there is any “painless” solution to mitigate my conflicting thoughts about low-priced merchandise.