"This alarming condition" of not wanting anything from REI has nothing to do with my gear wish list but everything to do with the fact that REI doesn't carry anything that is on my wish list! My daughter (as a teenager) said 20 years ago that REI had become a yuppie store along the lines of Banana Republic, and this is even more true today. (Does Banana Republic even exist any more?)
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey