IGNORING THE LURE: Materialism's Backlash

Wealthy glitter does not impress me or define my inner value. There is no price tag to my principles. These remain the cornerstone of my reason for being.

Courtesy: heidisacredandprofane.blogspot.com

(SALEM) - With Christmas Season in full swing and the jingle of cash registers growing ever louder, my sweet spouse asked me how I formed my attitudes about not being swallowed up by Mr. Materialism. If was a question I had never pondered before.

Most education really begins in the home rather than the school. Your parents become your de facto teachers in values education.

Sometimes aunts and uncles donate a smattering of insight. My mother was herself a child of the Great Depression and became my icon of being frugal. Even at the dinner table, she urged me never to waste food "while little kids were starving in Europe". No, I would not necessarily eat everything on my plate. Yet my habit was never to take more than I was willing to consume.

When it came to toys, I would be choosy and only seek out was really stirred my imagination. It was never the more the merrier. Yes, I vividly recall deploying a small baby turtle to be my "tank" and run of those plastic toy soldiers. Clothes pins were used to create bunkers and ridges so the troops could hide. While I could not spell the word "camouflage", I knew exactly what it meant.

Having grown up with jigsaw puzzles, it was natural to select my clothing in terms of combinations. Somewhere along the line my inclination developed to prepare shirt-and-pants combos days in advance. If any stranger got a glimpse of my closet, they would see an array of hangers lined up with my outfits for the entire week. That was even more fun than coloring with crayons for me.

Came the day of receiving an allowance and I'd never want to squander it all. Something inside told me to that an emergency might occur and, like the squirrel who stores nuts for the winter, humans also had better conserve for when that just-in-case day comes our way. Even though I adored banana splits, my conscience told me: save the cash only to mark special occasions.

Sometimes a negative influence teaches a lesson. My father was a businessman and ran a wine store in Manhattan. He took pride in being a "good provider" but sometimes took in to extremes. When we visited relatives, he would parade how well his stock market investments were doing and they saw him as a braggart.

His siblings soon decided to steer clear of his boastful disposition. I too got the signal, and decided that earning lots of money would never make me into its hostage.

Instead, gaining knowledge became my focal point. Figuring how the world of cause-and-effect worked became my mantra. As an adult my dual careers evolved first to Journalism and later on, to Medical Social Work. The art of the interview became one of my favorite tools to satisfy an ever-curious mind. I have had relatives who offered money with strings attached, and I never wanted to fall for that gimmick. For example, my dad paid for my college but required me to become his wine store's delivery boy, something I felt ill-equipped to do.

When he openly blasted me in front of customers, I felt humiliated and even briefly ran away in protest. The lure of money could not enslave my soul.

That credo remains today. I continue to seek out bargain prices and usually shun top-of-the-heap articles. Wealthy glitter does not impress me or define my inner value. There is no price tag to my principles. These remain the cornerstone of my reason for being.

No amount of dollars can ever subdue this Coyne.

He also launched the nation's first tele-conference on health education for shut-ins, created the Eldermentors project in VA to pair retirees with immigrant students needing role models, and was the main catalyst behind CCTV's "Public Public" panel show here in Salem. Lee received his BA in International Relations and an MSW in community organization. He currently serves as a member of Salem's Library Advisory Board. To send Lee an email, please write to this address: luckycoyne@yahoo.com