I hate to shop. Except that I love it. I don't think of myself as being a particularly girly girl. By in large, although I have my own (occasionally questionable) sense of style, I'm not much of a fashionista. At the same time, sometimes I just need a new something-something to put that spring back in my step.

Now, before I begin sounding altruistic, I have, every now and then, slapped down stupid amounts of money for iconic fashion pieces that i would die, (DIE I tell you) if i didn't have. (Pucci boots come leaping to mind.) But, for the most part, I'm pretty frugal and rational about things like fashion. I, generally speaking, refuse to wear logos and be swept up in the fickle tides of fashion. I am physically unable to go with the mass consumer trends, as I cling to the idea that I am different, and immune to such pressures.

Long ago, when I was broker than I am now (the only thing broker than an entrepreneur with a start-up and a vision is an acting student with an attitude and callous disregard for reality,) I used to shop at the giant Goodwill store in downtown Seattle. I was an acting student at the time, and depended on it for everything from pots and pans to clothes to curtains. Then I used it for costuming shows. Then, when vintage became all the rage, I would go to Goodwill and cherry-pick items to sell in a hot little Boutique and take overseas tp sell to dealers. Before i knew it, Goodwill was my lifeline to just about everything. In fact, even when I could finally afford "real" stores, I stuck with Goodwill because i had gotten so used to finding treasure for cheap.

It wasn't until much later that I learned how great Goodwill really is, and it has nothing to do with my cheapness of funky fashion sense. This is recycling at it's most grass-roots greatness. Stuff that other people throw way is kept out of landfills. That's cool. But wait there's more, (for a mere $19.99, you can fill your closet.... only joking.) Every dollar that is spent at Goodwill goes to educate a marginalized population and give them not only the training to get a job in the workforce, but placement assistance and follow-up care. AND, every person working in the store is receiving on the job training in everything from customer service to operating a cash register. There is not a single wasted penny or activity.

Yeah, I'm cheap. Yeah, I have a hard time with mass consumerism. Yeah, I have a weird fashion sense. But I LOVE that all of these quirks of mine are benefitting hundreds of people. It's pretty perfect.

And here in Seattle, at the big Goodwill on Dearborn, the people working there are from every country imaginable. It's like the UN. It is a living breathing example of how we can all work together, in some very simple ways, to make the world a better place.....

So, that's my rant for the day. Shop to make the world a better place. (And, for the fashionistas out there, I have found Missoni sweaters there that sell for $1,400 at "real" stores, for $4.99. And that's just fun.)