Buy Nothing Day 1999:
Report form Nyack, New York

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Myself and four others (friends and relatives) headed to the "Palisades Center" mall in Nyack, New York, for Buy Nothing Day. Three of us were in homemade BND t-shirts and two were bold enough to wear homemade pig noses (thanks go to my sister for both!).

My brother was armed with a roll of tape and a pile of downloaded BND posters. Myself and two others handed out about 200 copies of a tri-fold brochure I made myself. It took security 45 minutes to finally catch up to us with a warning that we were "on camera" and that we had to stop handing out pamphlets. By that time we had only a dozen left.

Reactions were mixed. Two people stopped to ask more questions, one woman accused us of buying the pig noses, another man immediately threw the brochure away. For myself, the experience left me drained. I felt like nothing so much as yet another spectacle in a world full of spectacles. Being in a small group, surrounded by blank stares, neon signs, and mall cameras was quite intimidating.

I am glad other events in the U.S. went well. It's inspiring to hear about others who tried to make a difference!

-melissa

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