Spring break thrifting

Aside from a two-day jaunt to Michigan to see my relatives, I spent my spring break working.

On breaks, I work at a bike store in Indianapolis, mainly as a cashier. It’s not glamorous, but it’s fairly pleasant work.

The people there are nice, and I’m happy to have a job to go back to that doesn’t involve food service. Any resentment I might have toward all of you who were basking in the Mexican sun for the last few days is tempered by the fat paycheck I’m on track to get in a few weeks.

But one thing that did bother me this week was something I always seem to forget about when I’m not hocking helmets and water bottle cages.

When I’m ringing people up, the amount of money they spend on bikes and bicycling equipment is truly astounding.

Men and women ring up for $500, $1,000, even up to $3,000 and sometimes more. They hand me their cards without a second thought. I suppose it’s better than frittering away the money on a pair of shoes or something silly. Bikes do have the potential to be useful.

However, I’ve seen firsthand what happens to most of these purchases.

People come back a year or two later looking for a tune up or a new bike for their kids, and they talk about how they just can’t seem to find the time or the place to ride their new bikes or how the bikes have just been sitting in their garages.

They grin sheepishly, saying hopefully they’ll get out on it this summer, now that it’s getting warm. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Mayor’s Action Center has been flooded with complaints about bike lanes throughout the city.

People are complaining not that there aren’t enough, but rather that they hate them and that they wish they’d never been built.

People would rather stay in their cars on a beautiful day or, in the case of IU’s campus, ride the bus. Evidently it’s more important to get places quickly than to appreciate the experience of getting somewhere in the first place.

When I was in Michigan, the best part of the trip wasn’t going into the shops in my aunt’s adorable hometown of Saugatuck, staying in and watching a movie or even having a few beers with my boyfriend, who was nice enough to accompany me on long visits to see the grandparents.

It was unseasonably warm, but the nearby beach on Lake Michigan was almost empty. We had it to ourselves. Two miles of coastline and a rocky pier on a 75-degree day.

It was my few hours of the spring break experience, and it didn’t cost anything. I’m a victim of the American mentality that buying things can lead to happiness.

I honestly wish I could have bought a luxurious spring break trip to Cozumel, Mexico, or some tropical island, and I’m sure it very well would have made me happy. Tropical islands tend to have that effect on people.

Nonetheless, whether it’s the most expensive bike in the store, some pricey new shoes or a getaway to somewhere wonderful, paying for an experience can only take you so far.

From what I’ve learned on my shoestring college budget, sometimes not spending money and getting a little creative instead yields the most memorable experience.

This week is supposed to be warm, so pass on the expensive nights out and the shopping trips. Go outside and play.

It saves you money, it makes you happy and you might even burn off some of those alcohol calories left from a break full of decadence.

And honestly, what’s better than that?

­— kelfritz@indiana.edu