Value shopper

Re “An all-consuming American fever,” Opinion, Nov. 2

As Judith Freeman understates, “In thrift stores, you see the evidence of our gluttony.”

Not only “the poorest of the poor” buy what the fortunate class throws away. My income puts me firmly in the middle class, but my contempt for wasteful consumption sends me to the thrift store.

My copy of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” cost 95 cents, and not a word was missing. The compact microwave in my office cost $12 and gets my coffee precisely as hot as the $90 model at Sears. My $2 cutting board and $1 slotted spoon perform exactly as well as they did when somebody paid $62 for them at Williams-Sonoma.

As long as Americans overvalue status, the poor won’t be the only ones taking advantage of the appalling waste. My fear is that the meltdown will shock too many out of their decadence.

Mack Dryden

Valley Village