Priorities

This is the kind of anecdote that really brings home the disturbing nature of the consumer-focused American culture:

Charlo Sterio, a 58-year-old horse groomer from Miranda, about 55 miles south of Eureka, was first in line to wait for the doors to open at 5 a.m.

Having camped out in front of the store for 24 hours, Sterio passed up Thanksgiving dinner offers from friends in order to drive down in his RV and buy a $380 laptop, a $190 desktop computer, a TV/DVD combination unit and other gizmos at steep discounts.

"I'm pretty hungry," Sterio said as he was jostled in yet another line inside the store at the computer section. "I missed Thanksgiving dinner. I sacrificed that."

But Sterio had no regrets. "I can't be in two places at one time, and my first choice was coming to Best Buy to get the deals," he said.