 For many years now I’ve been a mindful and intentional consumer, ever since I found Minimalismand then Downsizing my life. I tell anyone who will listen all about not keeping up with the Joneses and the herd of cows mentality. Some are interested, others eyes glaze over with my words (rants), including my kiddos. Read More It seems a pandemic is not the only thing people are talking about in 2020. Air fryers are the new IT item in town, or at least in my town. Trying to find one is almost impossible as all the large chain stores and online stores are out of the more expensive bells and whistle Air Fryer. All the Joneses (aka the neighbours and friends) have one and it’s a hot topic of convo whenever we gather together (when restrictions were lifted from Covid-19 of course, which by the way didn’t last long as a second wave has now hit us hard). I’ve never been one to buy (pardon the pun) into what others have and own, but when I heard it cooks food without excess oil and super fast I was intrigued. When I do make purchases (mostly expensive ones) I do like to do my research and product review due diligence and then wait some time at least a week to see if I still really want it. I ended up doing the first two steps above, but did not do the latter and wait my standard amount of time (at least a week). I think sometimes when you decide you want something and you know no store has one left in stock you can start down a rabbit hole. And of course I could have purchased a cheaper type brand that probably did exactly the same as the bells and whistles version. But no I had to have what the Joneses had, the bells and whistles version. Instead of being mindful and intentional I turned into a crazy person googling store after store and I even took it a step further and started ringing stores. I finally found one store that was forty minutes away from where I live that had one Air Fryer I wanted. They did however have it put behind the counter for another customer that was currently in the store taking some time to decide if she wanted it. But the sales lady said if I put down a $200 deposit over the phone its mine. So I did just that and was getting ready to drive the forty minutes to pick up said Air Fryer (which, by the way, was not essential travel in lockdown). The phone rang as we were getting into the car and it was the sales lady advising that the customer in store found out her ‘on hold’ Air Fryer had been sold (to me) without her knowledge and she had a severe melt down in the store, so the sales lady had no choice but to let her purchase it (and rightly so). Lucky we didn’t make the hour and a half long round trip to be told its gone. You’d think at this stage I would have come to my senses, but sadly no. In normal circumstances I would have used that moment to stop and assess the situation and think this is a sign that we are not meant to have an Air Fryer, or I’m not buying one just because the Joneses have one...and those words did quickly enter my mind at one point, but I quickly squashed those sane well intended thoughts and I soldiered on, now determined more than ever to find one. I finally found the one we wanted online on eBay of all places from a large chain store the same brand as this one. So I didn’t hesitate to hand over the overpriced exobertant amount of money for an item that does...well, just what your oven does, but in faster time with less oil.  Once my wonderful (stupidly expensive) purchase arrived it was a week or so later (which ironically is usually the amount of time I wait to click the purchase button). I was a little underwhelmed when I first used it. I did however have a 30 day money back guarantee, so I started to come to my senses and more mindful ways once’s again and was thinking this item needs to go back, what was I thinking!, But I thought I would wait another week as the kiddos and Mr DL were trying all sorts of dishes that we were told (also by the Joneses) would be life changing. Fast forward two months on and we (I) decided to keep our Air Fryer, the kiddos use it often and my daughter said at one point when I was thinking of returning it that “tears are forming in my eyes as we speak”😂. I must say my cheese toasties are indeed seriously life changing!  So on refelection of my non-intentional purchase I remind myself I am human and we all get caught up with the Joneses and with un-conscious consumerism at times. The point is to acknowledge it for what it is and make better choices next time ~ onwards and upwards once again. In my defence (grasping excuse) I’m in a second wave of lockdown and it killed a few hours trying to find one in my long lockdown days and I think I’ve now had more than my quota of cheese toasties.
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