Conspicuous Consumption - The Stroller

When I was younger, I used to scoff at people who paid ridiculous sums of money for a baby stroller." Look at those people wasting their money - just so they can impress their neighbors. I'll never do that!" Never, huh.

The thing is, though, the nice strollers are so very, well, NICE. Chris and I saw this particular stroller in a shop in Shanghai. Not for sale, mind you, but in use with an actual kiddo inside. We ooohed and ahhhed and then went home to look it up on the internet. When I first saw the price, my inner scrooge shrank back and said, no way! But, as time passed and we saw crappy stroller after crappy stroller for sale in Beijing, my mind kept wandering back to this one. Soon it didn't seem that expensive after all.*

Fortuitously, Chris was asked to do some consulting in Denmark this Spring, so he had the opportunity to pick one up.** Behold, our new Urban Jungle, complete with inflatable tires and a great suspension. Remember people, this is China Red, not Georgia Red, OK?***



The moral of the story? Never laugh at people who buy crazy strollers. It will invariably come back to bite you in the butt.

*To be fair, it was way cheaper than a Bugaboo.

**These kinds of things aren't for sale in China, you see. Oh no. Even if they were, the VAT would be ridiculous. In fact, we have a whole strategic plan for picking up kiddo goods during our international travels in the next six months: SLR and video camera in either Singapore or Korea, car seat in Hong Kong or the USA, etc.

***Sorry Amy