Rant

It is an American marketing phenomenon that retailers somehow know a woman is pregnant before she herself does. To this end, they immediately begin bombarding her with ads, magazines, product samples, and "essential" shopping lists of everything that MUST be done to get the nursery stocked, prettied up, and fully humming along before baby arrives. At this point, I am fairly certain that at least five forests have died in order for marketers to tell me everything I MUST buy in order to be a responsible parent. Even Rob has gotten mail marked "To the Expectant Father", telling him all about how the needs of a father are different from the mother, and why he should invest in a stroller and man-diaper-bag that cater to his masculine needs. But the real pinnacle of American marketing ingenuity came the other day in the form of a sample of Huggies Disposable Washclothes.
Me: "WHAT!!!??! Disposable Washclothes?! You've got to be kidding me! Now we've decided that washing a square of cloth..." (I'm getting all fired up for a good long rant against wastefulness, environmental pollution, global warming, diminishing returns, etc, etc).
Rob: (with a sigh) "I know, I know, yet another product that 'represents everything that's wrong with America'".
Hmmmm. I MAY need a new Rant.
But before I start looking for the topic of my new Rant, allow me to throw out a quick plug for my new favorite book:


I read the title of the book while browsing at the library, and had to check it out. When I told Rob the name of the book, he laughed and said it sounded like something I would read-- he is the one who has to listen to all my rants about the "essential" baby products being peddled to me (really, HOW can one small person really NEED all that STUFF?). I really liked the book. It validated me.