August 30, 2008 at 13:55:04

The $2,685 sweater: When did it become cool in America to pay $2,685 for a SWEATER?

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By Jane Stillwater (about the author) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Jane Stillwater - Writer

I got bad knees. So I decided to do something about it and go have my knees checked out by a specialist. Finding a specialist who would see me and convincing my health insurance to cover the cost took me over a year but it finally happened.

"Jane, you have a lack of cartledge in your knees and you need to have physical therapy," my specialist told me. Great. More healthcare paperwork to endure. It then took me another three months to get the costs of my PT approved -- but I'm tenacious. So today I went in for my first session. And forgot to put a book in my purse. I never go anywhere without a book in my purse. Grocery lines, waiting rooms, taking public transportation? You gotta have a book in your purse!

So in the waiting room of my physical therapist, I had nothing to read. What about "People Magazine"? Nope, they didn't even have that. But I'm a reading junkie. Other people may only have to eat and breathe, but I gotta read too. Moving my eyes back and forth across a page full of words has a hypnotic effect on me and always calms me right down. It's better than Valium. Or even Ambien.

Then I spotted something hidden over in a corner of the waiting room -- a copy of "Town and Country" magazine. Good grief! The people who inhabit the pages of "Town and Country" live in a whole different world, a whole different UNIVERSE from you and me.

Can you imagine paying $2,685 for a SWEATER? Or $3,491 for a pair of SHOES? Or a $15,000 outfit? That you only wear once? They even had a freaking TENT for sale to put in your back yard -- for $25,000. A TENT?

Is this what our brave soldiers in Iraq are fighting for? So that some rich war-merchant's wife will be able to buy a $1,273 scarf?

I wouldn't even know what to do with a $2,685 sweater. Perhaps one could sell it for enough money to feed an African village for a year? Feed an average American family for several months? Hang it in a museum?

Or use it to pay for 25 sessions of physical therapy...or even to make a down payment on a whole new set of knees!

Stillwater is a freelance writer who hates injustice and corruption in any form but especially injustice and corruption paid for by American taxpayers. She has recently published a book entitled, "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips For Touring (more...)

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