The pointless boycott
By Claire ZulkeyThe pointless boycott
By Claire Zulkey
We broke up (unrelated to this) and now I am married to a man who feels similarly about McDonald’s. No real explanation why — he will eat at Arby’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, any old fast food crap out there when the time calls for it — but not Micky D’s, and, like with the other guy, has no particular explanation why. This perturbs me as sometimes (especially in the morning) I think McDonald’s is the only option. Last summer we went on a road trip and were about to make separate fast food lunch runs: me to McDonald’s, him to Subway (which I boycott myself but for a very good reason: the food has a bland taste in my mouth when I eat it) when we compromised on Sonic and neither of us was happy.
But I am not immune to the steadfastness of the pointless boycott. Last week I asked a girlfriend what she had on her Christmas list, and she said she was hoping to receive some clothes from Lululemon, the ladies’ workout gear store.
“I don’t shop there,” I said. “And I don’t really have a good reason for it.”
“I know why,” she said. “It’s the symbolic clothing of rich stay-at-home moms who have extra money to blow on designer exercise clothing.” Which was kind of a sick burn aimed at herself.
“Not really,” I said.
It’s not as deep as that, and if it were, I wouldn’t diss my friend like that by saying I thought she looked like an idle jerk. I happen to like workout clothes from Nordstrom and a company called Athleta (owned by the evil Gap) and they’re really no different that I can tell from Lululemon. It’s just that I have decided that this is going to be the one, really stupid and specific way I will resist a particular lady clothing tide. It’s not them or their corporate practices or their clientele or their product; it’s me. I am somehow different and unique this way. A special snowflake, you know?
So, what have you got? What are companies that you refuse to patronize for no good reason?