I’m wondering when we humans started assuming that commerce must be perfect? After all, the adage “let the buyer beware” has been in circulation since folks ran around saying it in Latin. A kind of passivity seems to have crept into transactions. Except for the act of opening one’s wallet, buying has become more of a reactive, spectator sport.

Maybe we should go back to friendly haggling in the marketplace, if only to remind us that we get to do more than consume: We get to participate.

This fact was made clear to me a few weekends ago when I set out to install window shades in my new digs. (They had to be shades. I think blinds were invented by a sadist, or at least someone with a full-time housekeeper.) It was Sunday afternoon, but so what? As a conscientious consumer, I know how to spend money seven days a week, if need be. However, I wanted to complete the project in one day, so I didn’t want to mess around with the buying part. I wanted to grab, go home, and put the things up before work on Monday.

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