Skim milk? Check. Kraft Cheese? Check. Boca Burgers? Check. Strawberries? Strawberries? Are they even in season? I push my shopping cart forward in a panic and scan the produce aisle. Yes! Strawberries! I reach out to pick up the plumpest, reddest, most delectable pint I can find. I chuckle to myself: not in season? That’s ridiculous. Strawberries are always in season. That is the beauty of being an American consumer. I get what I want, when I want it. I pick up my pint of strawberries, drop it into the child seat of the shopping cart and continue on my way. Strawberries? Check.

As I am waiting in the checkout line, I see Martha Stewart smiling at me from the cover of her monthly magazine. Martha is always trying to get Americans to start Living. I pick her up; she is quite heavy this month, 500-some pages. I glance at her index: cooking, entertaining, gardening, crafts, decorating, housekeeping. I flip to a random page and there is Martha, teaching me how to make my own soap cubes. I read the first few steps and stop. Who has time to make their own soap? Why would you make your own soap when you can easily pay a few dollars for a brand name? I put her back on the magazine rack, just in time to pay the cashier for this week’s groceries. Sorry Martha, but not everyone has the time or desire to live the way you do. In fact, I am quite satisfied with the way I live my life. I know I am a dependent consumer, and I have no problem with that.

Really, why should I have to grow my own food or fix my own car? Why should I have to keep up my own lawn or the streets in my neighborhood? Why shouldn’t I call the plumber when my faucet is leaking?

Why shouldn’t I take advantage of the freedoms I am given as an American consumer?

Even if I were to choose, for instance, to start growing my own food, it would be an impossible task to maintain. I have a career that requires dedication. I have a family that needs to be cared for. I have commitments to my friends. On top of all this, I do not have the space or the resources to do such a thing. I enjoy being able to pick and choose between goods and services based on my needs and my wants.

This is my choice as an American consumer: when I need it I find it and pay for it.

Freedom of choice? Check.