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Yesterday's Chicago Tribune had a funny (by funny, I mean terrifying) story on what they're calling BUI (Buying Under the Influence). The condition—which the Tribune describes as the "internet's dirty little secret," though I can think of far dirtier internet secrets—involves people (mostly women) getting real wasted, blacking out and going on online retail benders, typically blowing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars on clothes and shoes and rings and crap. The weirdest thing was, most of them don't regret it. In fact, one woman referred to this kind of sloppy shopping as "the only thing you can do after a few drinks and not have any regrets." This is presumably because you can return most purchases. But what if you're a cheapo drunk shopper and you buy things on sale? Then you're just screwed? The terror.
Also: Is this a phenomenon I've missed? I mean, I did go through a ridiculous, late-night wasted infomercial period, but the resulting four easy payments of $9.99 for a food dehydrator were, as expected, easy. But not remembering buying an $850 ring? I hear a "Hi my name is...and I'm a..." in that. [Chicago Tribune]
