Calaphon: Responsible stewardship or irresponsible consumerism?
So, Nathan and I ended up at Kohl's tonight because he managed to destroy both remaining pairs of jeans last weekend. After a flurry of picking and trying on and picking and trying on, we wandered down to the kitchen section.
Enter temptation in the form of a Calaphon 10-piece cookware set. Suddenly images of my mangled kettle and my flaking sauteé pan float through my mind. The set we received for Christmas last year did NOT wear well, and I was hoping to at least find replacements for at least these two pieces.
Yet, here is the kitchen set of my dreams - $50 off and with a free 4-quart dutch oven to boot. Glass top, anodized aluminum, indestructible non-stick, and on a really good sale.
I walked away, thinking about the poor people in the world. If I buy a $300 cookware set, that is money I cannot use for a much better purpose. I think I represent the rich young ruler who is too married to her wealth to enter the Kingdom. I think I'm a spoiled American consumer who only sees what she wants in front of her face.
On the other hand, if I have to spend $100 every two years on a cheap set, I'm really not being responsible with my resources at all. If I continue to cook with my broken pieces, I am putting nasty chemicals into my system. If I buy something quality now, I will probably spend less in the long run. The set I'm eyeing is not the most expensive one in the store, and really is on a killer sale. And I really DON'T have a pot for making soup since I crushed mine in the cider press (ha, good story!).
Nathan and I wandered around for several more minutes to let it simmer (pun intended), and we decided if the stuff lives up to its reputation and we don't have to buy another set for 20 years, it's good stewardship.
But I'm still not sure if it wasn't irresponsible consumerism. I guess only time will tell.
posted by Christy Randalll @ 7:43 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
I just love it that you struggled with the question.
I love durable and lasting goods, which is why I stay away from kitchen sections of nicer stores. It is easy for a felt need to attach itself to an object of desire. I don't know where they sell Le Creuset, and I am trying to keep it that way. We have old hand-me-down pots and pans, but I am determined to replace them not with the new shiny enamel-ware of my dreams, but old cast-iron that needs a new life.
But this one is hard. Quality is expensive, and it should be. But that is not the point. To be able to walk into a store on another less expensive errand, and decide to upgrade your cookware is indeed a luxury, no matter how much angst came with it, or however much you need it.
How do you respond to luxury? With guilt because you feel that the money could have been used more wisely? With humility at the way that god has blessed/cursed you with the choice? This is more important than the money or the pots.
I would say I respond more with humility that I am blessed/cursed with the choice.
Time is not taking very long to tell on this one. I used the set last night and did not like it. Now I am going back through and researching the right set like I should have done in the first place. While I don't feel a call to use hand-me-downs, I am looking at more economical options than this one. I'll let you know how it goes.
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