Bizarro is brought to you today by Art Cruelty.I think this cartoon is funny. I don't shop at places like Costco because I have no need for enormous quantities of products at low prices. If I were responsible for feeding a penitentiary full of inmates or a didn't know where babies came from and just kept reproducing, I suppose I would. I won't say I've never been to one of these monstrous markets, but I will say it wouldn't bother me if I never was again.
I'm uncomfortable with this kind of consumerism and what it is doing to our planet, but that's just me. As a reader of this blog told me recently, "you can always tell a liberal, but you can't tell him much." I could describe her the same way, of course, but whatever.
Even without the political sermon, I like this cartoon. Big chaw and a 4000-foot lariat make me smile.
18 comments:
Personally, I like buying bulk because it frequently means less packaging (except when it's just several of the regular retail packs tossed in a box :S), and yeah, cheaper is good too.
"kept reproducing" URL: www.catholicweekly.com - Procreation FTW!
One nice thing about some of the giant-sized things at Costco is that there is less packaging per bit of product.
Unfortunately, that's not true across the board.
That's what happens in our capatalist economy. We consume more than ever, export our poverty to other countries and cultural groups. It's interesting that we want to kick out all the laborors (mostly Mexicans) who provide the cheap labor so we can shop at costco and sam's club. Really, without all the legal and illegal immigrants who work on the farms where we get our food, and are paid often below minimum wage, how would we keep prices down? No American I know, myself included, would would work on a tomato or corn farm for $4 an hour, I'd want at least $20. The only way it works so we can buy things cheap and in bulk is to dehumanize others, and push poverty on them. That's why we outsource to other countries.
heh do you know that the Oil Drum posted your Alien talks to the Great Apes cartoon. i have been so busy i haven't had a chance to post one of yours...damn it man why must there be polluters..
it took me a long time to get that costco reference...but you know me slow on the uptake..
Ahhh Costco... where else can you come home with five normal household things and still be charged over $100. (But, unlike CA, they cannot sell scotch in the northwest)
But the photo of the Catholic family had me frozen in my tracks. The teenager in the back with the blue shirt is a spitting image of the tool who use to torment me on a regular basis in middle school. Still have the mental scars after 30 years. (today is now ruined and getting the scotch)
costco does not like you..link is FORBIDDEN yikes
I literally LOLed at this, because I shop at Costco. But there are only certain things I'll buy there. We don't use anymore toilet paper because we save money buying it in bulk, so I'm not consuming any more than if I wasted money buying it four rolls at a time. And I have a basement to store it in, so why not. But the giant shopping carts and enormous jars of mayo crack me up. Over a year ago I bought a package of gum there. I'm still working through that package of gum.
On the other hand, sometimes the giant penitentiary-sized serving uses less overall packaging than the equivalent number of smaller servings. The amount of packaging only increases as the square of the diameter, but volume increases as the cube. There's less metal in that one big can of chaw than in the couple hundred normal-sized cans you'd need to replace it. So if you need that much chaw, maybe it's actually better for the environment, if not your jaw, if you buy it all at once.
Yeah, i was recently talked into getting a CostCo membership by my wife. I liked the idea of buying in bulk and therefore using less packaging, but it doesn't exactly work out that way.
First off they have hardly any vegetarian items. I found some morningstar sausage patties that were great, and soy milk. Thats about it. Other than that the place was full of meat, meat, meat. The free samples were meat, the free coupons I got for singing up were meat. Bummer.
Then, when you buy one of these large packages of stuff, each item in the box is then individually wrapped (?!?!!). So I ended up making more trash to go into our local landfill. Not cool.
Third, the place is so crowded and full of these uppity people it makes me ill. I seriously missed the miscreants and oddly shaped people at Grocery Outlet and Winco where I normally shop. It makes me feel down-to-Earth.
My wife convinced me just the money we will save on soy milk will be worth it, but its so busy she never goes. We have 3 kids so it certain seems like we would be CostCo people but I dunno yet, its been 2 months and we've only been there twice.
Truly funny; the giant can of "Chaw" but sorry I missed the lariat until you pointed it out in the blog (that probably took a while to draw too).
My son had a membership to Costco and I went a couple of times. Kind of amazing to see appliances like washers/dryers stacked 50 feet in the air (and scary too). However I would never get a membership there; why would I actually pay somebody to be allowed to shop at their store (duh).
Great cartoon! I've bought one of those cans.
Misdirected politics, though. Costco is the only place where I can afford the amount of fruit, veggies and high fibers that go into the anti-hypertension, anti-stroke diet the National Institutes of Health prescribes. These goodies absolutely cannot be obtained from local producers at anything like a reasonable price or year round availability. And I won't even mention the amount of gas consumed running from Farmer's Market to roadside stand.
I don't want to have a stroke or spend all my time in rehab with fat people.
All hail the Kirkland brand! Let the noise reducing plastic-coated steel carts be filled with merchandise!
I am so terribly disappointed that your, "didn't know where babies came from and kept reproducing" link wasn't this.
The 'Art Cruelty' link gives me the creeps, Mr. Piraro. doncha think it looks a bit like Michael Jackson.
Plus, I think she may have stumbled upon evidence of 'really-big-foot's existence(Costco link;)
ur Fan,
Dee Sh
btw, does the lil brown horsey look sad cuz the bad cowboy's spur's hurtin him, Mr. Piraro.
I haven't seen a sadder looking horse... sorta like its given up or something. or maybe it was unintentional. TC.
ur Fan,
Dee Sh
@ Penny...
I've used that pic on this blog before. I love it, it's one of my favorites!
@Anonymous...
The horse isn't sad, he's just looking down at the ground. They do that sometimes. :)
What a big family!!! That mother of 9 must be exhausted... The father of at least 6 looks full of energy though... I wonder if you could come up with an equation:
All of these children are at least half-siblings, Some are full siblings, and others are also full siblings... How long until the old man kills the milk man...
Hey now, I love Costco. They are the anti-Walmart...they pay good family wages, have great benefits, AND donate heavily to Democratic causes.
Plus, at the rate my wife and daughter go through Honey Nut Cheerios.....there's nothing wrong with buying 5 pound bags.
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