This is an article about someone who was forced to shop in a way they found surprising and sub-optimal before trying it, and found out that there are upsides to

This is an article about someone who was forced to shop in a way they found surprising and sub-optimal before trying it, and found out that there are upsides to it as well. Then they proceed to say that they could have done a lot of this via Craigslist, etc, but there are hefty downsides to that. Yeah, there are hefty (possible) downsides to thgis experience, too. I'd bet that if there were no big box stores and no small market like this article has, they'd use Craigslist and write an article about how wonderful that experience was after all. I don't consider myself a big risk-taker, but it seems to me that I'm more of one than the person in the article. I often buy things dirt-cheap and take a chance that they might not be quite right for my needs. I'm often happen with them, regardless of cost. Sometimes I have to take the price into consideration, too, before I'm happy. And rarely I'm just out some money for something that didn't work right. As for the transportation, I'm betting if the price was higher they'd be unhappy with it. We actually have at-will transportation in all our cities: Taxis. And now that we have Uber/Lyft/etc, there are actually alternatives that are cheaper and arguably better. We even have for-rent bikes and scooters that will often be better than any automobile ride in the city. Yes, I agree that people should open their eyes and welcome surprises more often... But I don't think the author has really taken that to heart themselves.