Buy Nothing Day Accounts Add Up

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday December 03, 2002 00:00 by Annie

Shopping trolleys deactivated, Fair Play coffee drank and the Christmas shopping spree that went horribly right

30th November 2002, the first weekend of the x-mas shopping season and Buy Nothing Day got off to an early start. During the small hours of Saturday morning I was threading a chain through the rows of shopping trolleys parked side by side outside the local supermarket. With the chain pad-locked I left the holding bay with the trolleys clamped together inside - deactivated.
On my way home I contemplated the links.
Shopping + exploitation, capitalism + war, the progress of a homogenised global culture, the consumer society + indigenous identities swallowed and neatly spat back as insiduous commercial advertisements.
But it's not all gloom n' shite. I didn't just SAY 'Feck the system', I identified a specific part of 'the shopping system' and DID go out and disrupt it.
For my efforts I would like to name this activity 'Trollocking', a combination of the words 'trolley' and 'locking'. This term has the added benefit of almost rhyming with the words 'frollicking' and 'bollocking' as in "Have a frollicking time bollicking a greedy system". However, viewers sitting quietly at their terminals are warned never to try this in their hometown as it might wake someone up.
Up out of bed that morning and in work I declined to share the usual extortionate take-away coffee with my colleagues. Instead I used a borrowed kettle and had the instant stuff with the 'end of day bargain bakery donuts' left over from the day before. I have to admit if you've got money, it's difficult not to spend any, even for one day.
Buy Nothing Days should be prepared for in advance, like rationing for a Sellafield nuclear meltdown.
One of my workmates mentioned that it was 'Buy Nothing Day'and was told to 'keep taking those pills', but I noticed that the boss seemed a bit shaken by the idea and later suggested a 'Pay Nothing Day'.
For my 'piece de resistance' I used an unreturned shopping trolley (no 1 euro needed) to do the big Christmas shopping spree that never was.
With the weight it was awkward pushing the full trolley load up to the till and then unloading the goods onto the counter. It was only then I remembered 'Buy Nothing Day'.
"Back in one minute" I told the cashier as I made my way towards the exit and freedom.

It's all around and it's happening now.
Why wait until next year ?