Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Consuming Desire

HOST INTRO:
Americans love to shop. We shop at hospital gift shops, baseball stadiums, police auctions and, of course, online. Some of us love it more than others. Those who love it too much are called shopaholics. The clinical term is compulsive buying. Researchers say more than five percent of Americans now have this problem.

Some shoppers are collectors, whose quest for more shapes their lives. Others adore the feeling of new stuff in bright, shiny bags. Still others buy because it makes them feel alive. Diane Richard and Todd Melby report on this ongoing national obsession, in ?Consuming Desire.

1. KATARINA

MUSIC: ?Strange Bath,? Jon Brion (composer)

Katarina: OK, the store we?re going to I used to go there two, three times a day. Not anymore. Well, OK maybe sometimes. Ha, ha.

Diane: Seriously, two times a day.

Katarina: They change their merchandise. They are always putting out new stuff. And you keep finding new ones. Sometimes I follow them around before they put it out.

Narrator (Todd): That?s Katarina Garcia. She?s a 35-year-old freelance fashion designer and mother of twin girls.

Narrator (Diane): We want to understand people who really, really like to shop. So we?re spending a day out with Katarina. Thrift stores are her favorite.

SFX: Clothes rack

Katarina: Let?s see. What kind of luck are we going to have today? [Rack sounds]

Narrator (Todd): Katarina?s not unlike a lot of us. A bit more persistent, perhaps. Her sister once gave her an oven mitt that read, ?Born to shop, Forced to cook.?

Katarina: Com?on Chanel. Oh, Steve Madden. Chanel. $1.45, I?m buying this. Ahh! Chanel.

Narrator (Diane): Overconsumption comes naturally to humans. Stockpiling goods has kept us from starving during times of scarcity.

Narrator (Todd): Acquiring things also makes us happy in the same way that caffeine, cocaine and chocolate can. That?s because buying triggers a chemical called dopamine, which floods our brain with feelings of pleasure every time we buy. Buy shoes. Feel happy. Buy an iPod. Feel happy.

Katarina: I was so bad with shopping, with my credit cards. Bad, bad credit. Not any more. I have good credit now. But I don?t want to get into that trouble again.

Diane: So, how about, when you shop with cash, how does that change things?

Katarina: Hee, hee. It doesn?t.

Narrator (Todd): Katarina racked up debt in her 20s. She once bought a $500 purse.

Diane: So you?ve got kind of a theme going with purses?
Katarina: Yeah, I love purses. Actually I have more than 70. And there?s more at my parents. So maybe I have 100.

Narrator (Diane): We?re in Katarina?s basement apartment on the Northside. It has two bedrooms. Her kids sleep in one of them. Katarina, though, sleeps in the living room, on a futon.

Katarina: OK. First of all, let me tell you, this is not a bedroom. It?s a walk-in little store of mine.

Diane: I see the Jackie O bag.

Narrator (Diane): Katarina has a thing for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. A portrait of the former first lady hangs on the wall, next to one of Audrey Hepburn and Jesus Christ.

SFX: Zipper

Katarina: Take a look at my purses.
Todd: Wow.
Katarina: Don?t forget to look down on the floor, too.
Katarina: I have cool purses in here. This I really, really love. Don?t you think it?s cool? (fade under narration)

Narrator (Todd): Katarina uses all of her purses and is proud of what she owns. She considers herself a collector. Russell Belk is a professor at the University of Utah. He says about a third of Americans collect something.

Belk: Some of the things that seem to drive us are bringing about order in some small part of the world that we can have control over. It?s also a creative act. In building a collection, we?re building something that is unique to us.

2. ROLF ACHILLES

SFX: Teacups clinking

Rolf: There?s the little plate. This is what you put your cookies on. And they always came in a set like this so the little plate?s missing for this cup. But that?s the combination. Look at these colors. There?s a little touch of yellow, some pink, some darker red and black sawtooth patterns sort of.

Narrator (Diane): Rolf Achilles is showing us his collection of 1930s-era German ceramics.

Rolf: And it?s all around the cup and inside it?s blood red. So you?re drinking your cup of coffee or cup of tea and you end up with blood red inside your cup. So it?s pretty radical.

Narrator (Diane): He?s a 58-year-old art historian and writer who lives in a condo near the lake. His walls are covered with paintings. Windowsills and tabletops are filled with pottery, even in the bathrooms.

Rolf: So that?s part of the fun of collecting. Other people just collect a pattern, and if they?ve got these three cups that?s fine. But I want six of these. I don?t want just one.

Todd: How many do you have of everything?
Rolf: Of ceramics, there?s probably about 1000 pieces. Historic photographs, about 430. Of prints, maybe 250 prints. Paintings, I think there?s 64 or so paintings.

Diane: Do you consider yourself a serious collector?
Rolf: In some ways, in some ways. Fairly serious, it?s compulsive to a degree. I?ve gone through various stages of compulsiveness, and it has nothing to do with how much wall space I have. It has nothing to do with how much room I?ve got. It also doesn?t have a whole lot to do with how much money I?ve got.

Diane: Do you set a budget?
Rolf: Sometimes, but generally not. If I want something, I tend to get it. But in the course of a year it all sort of irons out. And I?m not broke. So it?s still rational.

Diane: How often do you think you are making a purchase?
Rolf: Hmm. On eBay, probably a couple times a week.

Diane: Do you ever make a purchase you regret?
Rolf: For 10 seconds, then I forget about it. Sometimes I think, oh, I spent way too much money on that piece and then, Oh well. Next?

MUSIC: ?Strange Bath,? Jon Brion (composer)

Narrator (Todd): Collecting and excessive shopping have a lot in common. But there are differences. Ronald Faber is a sociologist at the University of Minnesota. He?s studied compulsive buying for two decades.

Faber: Collectors generally want to display their items. Compulsive buyers typically will hide them rather than display them. There?s some satisfaction when you look at them for a collector. The exact opposite seems to happen with compulsive buyers. They feel guilty when they look at the items they?ve purchased.

Narrator (Todd): A major cause of compulsive buying is depression. Faber says some people get a boost of self-esteem when they buy. In stores, they feel alert, affirmed and focused. And some like the attention they get from sales people.

Faber: What we found were people who really had little control over their behavior. Oftentimes they bought things and often had no desire for what they bought. One of the first things we discovered was people had closets, car trunks filled with things that they never opened, they never used.

Narrator (Todd): Faber says almost anything can trigger a buying spree.

Faber: It either occurs as a direct result of a negative event, feeling bad about oneself. Or there are compulsive buyers who feel the need to buy every single day, and they actually feel a great mounting tension on days they don?t buy.

3. FADIA

SFX: ?Sex and City? theme

Fadia: I was watching ?Sex and the City? and Carrie Bradshaw had on a blouse that I have. I was so excited. That just made my day.

Fadia: I love that show because ? I don?t know ? they live this exciting, fun, carefree life. And they can do whatever they want to, and go to Dolce and Gabbana and buy whatever they want to and not have to pay the bills, I guess.

Narrator (Diane): That?s Fadia Akrabawi in her Wrigleyville apartment.

Fadia: I love shopping. I love shopping. I go every day because I work right up the street from the State Street Marshall Field?s so I know that store like the back of my hand.

Fadia: If I see something I like, I, Oh, God I want this. I start thinking in my head. Where will I put this? How can I display it? Or what would I wear this with?

Fadia: I will go on shopping sprees. And I will buy everything in sight. If I decide that this year I like this kind of shoe, I get it in three varying styles and three different colors. Have to have it. And then I don?t wear them. So ?
Diane: Never wear them?
Fadia: Yeah, I went through a red shoe phase. I decided that year red was my new black. You know, black goes with everything. So, I was just going to ? ?Oh, look at me I?m wearing red with this new outfit. Who would have thought? But it never happened.

Narrator (Diane): Fadia works at a radio station and earns a good salary. But she spends more than she makes.

Fadia: I usually pay with a credit card. And then ? this is so embarrassing ? then when my credit card has hit its limit, I tell my mom about it and she bails me out.

Todd: Is it hard to ask your mom?

Fadia: [sighs] My mom was always saying, ?You?ve got to get this under control. You can?t live like this, Fadia. You can?t keep doing this. I won?t keep paying for your bills for you.? And she always does.

Narrator (Diane): Fadia shows us her closets. They?re filled with brand names like Gucci, Pucci and Chanel. She opens a dresser drawer and pulls out a bracelet.

Fadia: This one I got from Marshall Fields, obviously, you can tell by the box. Isn?t it pretty? This was so expensive. And, oh God this is so deceptive, but my sister knows now that I did it. So when they went to charge me for this, they put it on my sister?s card. And she said my sister?s name. ?Here you go, can I please have you sign?? And instead of saying, ?No, no, no, you should change it, I just let her do it. Once I got the bracelet, when I showed her how pretty it was ? it?s like these cute little flowers with diamonds in the center ? she?s like, ?It?s beautiful, it?s beautiful! I?m so excited. I can?t wait to borrow it!? And I?m like, ?Well, you can borrow it whenever you want to ?cause you paid for it.?

Diane: How much did it cost, do you remember?
Fadia: I think it was on sale. About $800. So, it?s a really nice piece of jewelry. I definitely have to start wearing it.

Diane: So if someone invented a pill to keep you from wanting to shop?
Fadia: Keep me from wanting to shop?
Diane: Would you take it?
Fadia: Well no. Because I love it. I like the feeling and it feels good. I?m embarrassed that, it is embarrassing that I, my mom pays for it and I?m 26 years old. It?s just not right. But it still feels good. And who am I hurting? I?m not hurting anybody. And I do good things in my life. You know, I volunteer quite a bit. And I?m not a mean person at all.

Fadia: Maybe I would like to take a pill that made me ? well, I?m still searching for the skinny pill ? but I would maybe take a pill that could help me to not buy everything I see.

Narrator (Diane): Development of a pill to quell the urge to shop is now under way. Drug maker Forest Labs has tested an antidepressant that it hopes may some day be prescribed for compulsive buyers.

Narrator (Todd): But before insurers will pay for it, experts must agree that compulsive buying is a legitimate psychological disorder. Many already do. Tim Kasser is a psychology professor at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.

Kasser: There?s a book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It does not include compulsive consumption as a disorder. Now, I?m not saying there?s some kind of conspiracy, but I think one of the reasons we don?t recognize it as one is I think it?s a culturally sanctioned way of dealing with our unhappiness is to go shopping.

Narrator (Todd): Kasser also says our society makes it easy to spend money. 24-hour stores, easy credit and advertising that preys on our insecurities all contribute.

Kasser: I do think that our culture continually sends people these messages saying ?You?re going to be a great person if you make a lot of money and you use that money in the way our culture tells us to and you buy the right things.? People want to feel good about themselves and the way that our culture says to feel good about yourself is to buy a lot of stuff.

SFX: ?Putting On The Ritz,? piano music recorded at 900 N. Michigan

Narrator (Todd): Chicago?s most notorious shopper is Elizabeth Roach. In 2001, the 47-year-old accountant embezzled nearly $250,000 from her employer, Anderson Consulting. She used the money to pay off credit card debt from her clothes-buying binges. One item she bought was a $7,000 belt buckle.

Narrator (Diane): Roach pleaded guilty to the crime and paid back the money she owed, plus a fine. But her case created a worldwide stir because her lawyer, Jeffrey Steinback, convinced the judge that she was unable to control the behavior. It was the first successful defense of compulsive buying.

Steinback: Psychiatrists speak of that illness connected with another, generally depression. In the case of my client, the depression has been chronic and unbelievably severe. It is ameliorated if only for a little bit by these shopping sprees in which just for a little while there is this self-medicated anesthetizing of the pain.

4. SILBERTS

Video Narrator: This is April 28 and we?re filming in Apartment 6C at ....

Teresa Silbert: I was the lucky person who got to clean up the apartment in order to settle the estate.

Video Narrator: We?re just filming to establish condition as of the date of her death. We?re now standing in the entryway...

Narrator (Todd): That?s Teresa Silbert. She?s married to Michael Silbert, a lawyer with offices in the Loop. One day, 12 years ago, he got call from someone who needed to draft a will.

Michael Silbert: She was very proper. A woman who I believe was in her sixties.

Narrator (Todd): Silbert asked us not to use her name. But he told us that she lived in a Gold Coast condo. Because she had never married, and had no kids, she asked him to be her executor.

Narrator (Diane): Within a week or so, she was admitted to the hospital, with ovarian cancer. She called Silbert, said she needed him to get something from her place.

Michael Silbert: She gave me the keys to go to her house and it?s at that point that I quickly learned why she did not want to come home.

Video Narrator: It?s impossible to walk and film at the same time in the apartment?s condition. This is standing at the entrance to the living room ?

Teresa Silbert: When I first walked in, it felt like a very dusty store room with an overtone of perfume, which I later found out was because of the little free perfume vials that they give away in department stores were... I was walking on some on them so they were crushing.

Video Narrator: The bathtub contains approximately four to five feet of clothing and can?t have been used recently. ?

Michael Silbert: There was just so much to take in, I mean you couldn?t even focus on any particular area because everywhere, everywhere there was clutter, there was stuff. What was so remarkable was that there only a thin path for one person to be able to walk.

Teresa Silbert: In the bedroom, there was only maybe about 11 inches of the bed showing where someone to curl up and sleep on it.

Michael Silbert: The only place I suppose that you could sit down was the one area of the bed and the sheet was black ... because you couldn?t change it.

Narrator (Diane): It took the Silberts seven months to clean out her condo.

Michael Silbert: I found out later that she had been barred from Marshall Field because she would buy and return. Eventually they barred her from going to Marshall Field.

Diane: So there were things of value?

Michael Silbert: The towels were not cheap towels. These were not thin towels. These were very luxurious towels. But there were all sorts of things. There were very expensive shoes, dresses, coats.

Teresa Silbert: Some of them dated from 1966 and 67. Because the receipts were still in the original bags from the stores.

Narrator (Diane): Since nearly everything was new, the Silberts returned some items, sold others to high-end consignment shops and held two estate sales. Still, more remained.

Teresa Silbert: This is what I got rid of in the end. 65 shirts, 220 skirts, 85 blazers, 65 sweaters, 35 gowns? [Teresa continues reading, but the list fades under ?]

Diane: So you don?t think she was happier for making these purchases?
Michael Silbert: I do not think so. In my opinion, this was a very lonely person who occupied her time by acquiring things ? things beyond any possible need in this lifetime.

MUSIC: ?High School Lover,? Air

Narrator (Todd): Peter Whybrow, a UCLA psychiatrist, contends that Americans have lost their traditional inhibitions toward spending. In his new book, American Mania, Whybrow argues that in the past, neighbors and family knew how much we spent and what we owed. Fear of gossip and social disapproval created an informal check on excessive spending.

Narrator (Diane): But now, few of those barriers exist. Most of us live far away from our families in large, anonymous cities. So there?s little reason not to buy.

Narrator (Todd): Research confirms that compulsive buying is a real problem. Preliminary data suggest that about 5.5 percent of Americans have compulsive buying tendencies. That?s nearly as many people as have diabetes.

Narrator (Diane): Years ago, studies showed that almost all compulsive buyers were women. Experts now believe that men are just as likely to buy compulsively.

5. VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY

SFX: Party sounds

Narrator (Todd): We?re at a potluck at a Northside apartment. The nine people here choose to live a frugal lifestyle known as Voluntary Simplicity. It?s inspired by the 1992 book Your Money or Your Life, which spawned similar groups around the country.

Narrator (Diane): The idea is, the less money you spend, the less you have to work, and the more time you have to do the things you like to do.

Victoria: Shopping in this culture is a pastime. My friends do it, my family does it. It?s a way to kill time and to make yourself temporarily feel good. When you come home with all your crispy bags, and you get to take out everything you bought and look at it. Know what? 24 hours, 48 hours, a week later, you?re still back where you were before you bought the stuff, except you?ve got less money.

Narrator (Diane): That?s Victoria Vastallo. She?s an accountant and financial planner for microbusinesses.

Victoria: Shopping is very safe. I mean, how can you fail at shopping? [laughs] So something doesn?t fit and you have to go back to the store and return it and oh, get something else ? it?s 100 percent self-gratification. There?s the thrill of the hunt. The thrill of the good deal. It?s just pure fun and success.

Gerry Bakker [off mike]: You can?t screw it up.

Victoria: Exactly. You can?t screw it up.

Diane: Do you think it?s possible that someone really loves to shop?

Seowa: There?s nothing wrong with shopping. Shopping is grrreat. Shopping is wonderful. There?s nothing like a tough pair of shoes to make your day. The question is enough. What?s enough? What do you really, really need? I really don?t need 17 pairs of boots. About two are going to get me through. Three, just one for vanity. So what?s enough?

Narrator (Todd): That?s Seowa Gbala. She offered to show us frugality in action. So a few days later, we met Seowa at her house in Forest Park.

6. SEOWA

Seowa: This came from a garage sale. It was the princely sum of $60, which I thought was a lot of money, but it?s a beautiful chair. [fade under narration] That came from the Chicago Industrial League. It was $40, but they had a special, 50 percent off, so that chair was $20. The desk came from Craig?s list, it was $25. The filing cabinet was $5, that was quite a good find. That also came from the garage sale. The corner cabinets were from an antique shop. I bought two things and got a deal.

Narrator (Todd): Seowa owns her own house, but she rents out most of it. She saves money that way. Her apartment is small, only about 550 square feet.

Seowa: But I actually thought about what I needed, what was going to fit. I gave myself a budget of $500 to completely furnish my apartment. That was somewhat unrealistic, but I was close.

Narrator (Todd): Seowa, who?s 35, works as a freelance training consultant and earns about 90,000 dollars a year. But she still weighs every purchase she makes.

Seowa: So when I go shopping, I think about, ?Is this worth however long it?s going to take me to earn a dollar?? I do make the equation between how much money I make per hour and the amount I spend. If it?s $50 or $75, is it worth an hour of my life? If it?s not, it can stay where it is.

Narrator (Todd): Today, Seowa needs a shoe organizer. So we?re setting out to find a used one.

SFX: Car

Diane: So Seowa, did you buy this car new?
Seowa: Nooooo. I would never buy a new car. Never. Never ever ever buy a new car. A new car is a mistake in action. Cars lose 30 percent of their value in the first two years. I paid $10,000 for this car.

SFX: Driving

Narrator (Todd): She clips coupons and keeps them in the car in a big blue expandable folder. She strategically combines errands to save gas and time.

[open to Salvation Army] Seowa: This is the Oak Park Salvation Army. It looks kind of crowded. So what we?re going to do first is we?re going to go around back into the housewares and furniture.

Narrator (Todd): We take two spins around the store. No shoe rack in sight. Seowa does find a mug with a pirate?s face on it and a couple other things. And even though stuff here is cheap, she still likes to haggle.

Sales: Are you ready, honey?

Seowa: Yes I am, Miss Lady. But I have sort of a dilemma. It doesn?t have a price tag on it and I?m buying it as sort a joke, so I?m really probably wouldn?t be willing to pay more than a quarter for it. Because it?s really ugly and I?m going to give it to my sister and make fun of her.

Sales: Well let?s try .89 and you can really laugh your heart out.

Seowa: What about a quarter?

Sales: An account of we got nothing in here for a quarter.

Seowa: OK, I see now. I see where we?re going with this.

Sales: Do you want me to push .89 or $3.99?

Seowa: No, no. .89 is perfect!

Sales: These are $1 a piece.

Seowa: (whispering) The prices have gone up.

Narrator (Todd): Frugal living has allowed Seowa to focus on what matters most to her.

Seowa: I have much more time. I?m around. I?m available. My sister is going to be late from work, I?m available to pick my niece up from school. I?m available to, you know ? Let?s cook dinner for your mom. She?ll be surprised. I have all kinds of time to do those kinds of things. That makes me happy that there aren?t all these other controls on me. But I chose that.

Narrator (Diane): But most Americans choose to spend. The result is, we have less money in the bank, and we owe more than ever.

6. KATARINA

MUSIC: ?Strange Bath,? Jon Brion (composer)

Narrator (Todd): On our day out shopping with purse collector Katarina Garcia, she left the credit card at home and just brought cash. By mid-afternoon, she?d spent about 80 dollars.

Narrator (Diane): She found joy down every aisle.

Katarina: If I wasn?t so petite, look at how cool this bag is. Youuu! You, this would look good with you. And it has sooooo. Look. [Diane, laughing: It?s cute] Look? And it matches your coat perfectly. [Diane: Oooh!]

MUSIC: ?You really got me,? Kinks

Katarina: Cool. OK. I?m ready. Cool belt. It?s heavy. You guys feel it.

Diane: Wow. That will keep you from running away too fast.

Katarina: This is a good accessory. (Giggles.) I?m happy, happy, happy. O.K. We didn?t even go through all the aisles. Can you imagine if we were going through all the aisles?

Katarina: OK. We are going to pay.

OUTRO, CREDITS

Katarina: I might have to come back. Mondays is everything half off. I might have to hide that somewhere. (Giggles.) I?ll show you, I have a hiding spot. (Giggles)

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