Put me on any flight longer than three hours, and, somewhere along the way, I’ll read the Sky Mall Catalogue cover to cover.

I’ve been doing so for at least a decade. And, in all that time, I’ve never actually purchased anything from it.

I do the same with a handful of other catalogues: Crate and Barrel, Herrington, Design Within Reach. When they appear in my mailbox, I can’t help but thumb my way through, will even dog-ear a page here and there, as if to convince myself that maybe, this time, despite years and years of uninterrupted experience to the contrary, I’ll actually whip out a credit card and put in and order.

And It isn’t just catalogues. Back before I killed my television, if I surfed past an infomercial – be it for ginsu knives, vacuum cleaners or ab machines – I’d inevitably watch it, transfixed, the rest of the way through.

I don’t know why I do, nor why I derive pleasure from simply considering without actually purchasing. But, given the number of flights I take each year, not buying any of those lusted-after Sky Mall items has doubtless already saved me thousands upon thousands of dollars.

So, when I finally do call in to order the indoor electric-powered waterfall fountain, I figure I’m totally, completely justified in buying the really, really big one.