While there’s a definite whiff of frugality in the air during these uncertain times, and it’s now considered admirable to be a recessionista instead of a fashionista, there will always be some things that continue to issue an irresistible pull. Of these the most insidious is the “impulse item”; those small, relatively inexpensive, pieces of flotsam and jetsam that lurk near cash registers. Like sirens calling sailors to their doom they are impossible to avoid and after waiting in line beside them for five minutes it is virtually certain that one will leave the store with you.
