I for one, see it differently. It's amazing how much you will spend, at say, an island gift shop. Perhaps a necklace, or a bracelet. You'll pay a couple hundred bucks, maybe less, maybe more. And it's a fine looking piece of jewelry !! You will tell yourself......this will remind me of my trip to St. John !! But it's a piece of jewelry that was made somewhere else, by someone else, and it really has no value to it. It has a pretty stone of some sort, not precious to where it has a real value that will be worth something someday. And eventually it ends up with the rest of your jewelry, in a drawer, or a box, or a nice little nic-nac shelf. But you were on vacation so spending that kind of money at a store that had a storefront with windows and lights made some kind of self-justification.

I would rather go out on the island, and see what the locals are making. In this case, we go out to Sloop Jones. And while we are looking over his shirts, dresses, tops, and signs, we notice that he has a family. And his family is pitching in to help create a memory. So I buy it, I take it home and hang it in my closet with the rest of my island wear. And whenever I thumb through my warm day attire, I come across my Sloop Jones shirt, and instantly....... a flashback of Jeeping around St. John !!Snorkeling at Trunk Bay, conch fritters at Vie's Snack Shack, and meeting Sloop Jones and supporting a local economy.

If I want sticker shock, i'll look at the price of my airfare and ask myself..... " Are peanuts, pretzles and pop really THAT expensive ?? "