I am in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch! - The Daily Render by Nikolas R. Schiller

I am in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch!
|| 11/30/2002 || 12:13 am || Comments Off on I am in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch! || ||

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Nikolas Schiller, 22, of Ballwin, a student at George Washington University, said security officers inside the Galleria were not so accommodating when he tried to hand out “Buy Nothing Day” leaflets inside the mall.

He said he left when they threatened to have him arrested for trespassing.

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Our Buy Nothing Day exploits were featured in the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch:

Chained to an enormous Visa card, O’Fallon, Ill., computer technician Josh Cunningham carried his post-Thanksgiving message to the shopping masses Friday morning outside the St. Louis Galleria:

If you don’t need it, don’t buy it. If you think you need it, think again.

On a day dubbed “Buy Nothing Day” by national organizers, about a dozen area demonstrators dragging symbollic oversized charge cards and handing out leaflets proclaiming “Love Does Not Mean Debt” descended on local retail centers on what is traditionally the season’s busiest day.

“The poor people, the common man, they think they need to buy all these things to make their kids happy,” said Cunningham, 21. Instead, he said, the best gifts are gifts of the heart: handmade cards and gifts, poetry or simply spending time with a friend or family member.

“Spread the love, not the debt,” said Paul MacFarlane, who helped organize the local event.

MacFarlane said he was not telling people not to buy. Instead, he said, he was suggesting they simply be careful about what they buy and how much they spend.

“If you can afford to buy a gift, do it, but if you can’t afford it, don’t do it,” he said.

Many of the motorists along Brentwood Boulevard, in front of the Galleria, pointed and honked their horns at the demonstrators as they struggled with their giant charge cards.

Demonstrators said most were friendly.

Nikolas Schiller, 22, of Ballwin, a student at George Washington University, said security officers inside the Galleria were not so accommodating when he tried to hand out “Buy Nothing Day” leaflets inside the mall.

He said he left when they threatened to have him arrested for trespassing.

Keith Hanlon, 41, who described himself as a “caretaker, handyman and activist” from Maryland Heights wore a slighly faded Santa outfit outside the mall.

“We need to examine the true reason for the season,” said Hanlon. He said he will signicantly pare the number of gifts to friends and family this year.

Anne Marie Jackson, 24, who described herself as a “coffee jerk” from South county, struggled with her kitchen table-sized facsimile Master Card.

For Jackson, the decision to cut down on holiday gifts was an easy one.

“I’m young,” she said, “and pretty broke.”