Some will shop
until they drop, others would rather drop than shop
Lately
the news has been filled with stories about Christmas shopping and the hopes of
the stores for the January sales.
It
made me think back to times at work when one of my colleagues would start and
finish his Christmas shopping on the afternoon of Christmas Eve in Selfridges
when the prices had been marked down ready for the sales and how the office
would suddenly fill up with Americans at the time of the sales.
How differently people view shopping.
As
a working class boy the only thing that bothered me when shopping was
price. The consequence was that I bought
a lot of things that were not necessarily very good quality but cheap.
I
learned far too late in life was that the reason things are cheap is because
they are crap (this is also true of most things that fall off the back of a
lorry). I've got a little wiser and I
learned the saying 'buy cheap buy twice'.
It has become clear as I've got older that
when you are buying fashion buying cheap is quite a good idea because fashion
changes so quickly it is not worth spending much on it, I am so glad that I am
no longer a teenager and need to wear designer clothing. It is so much easier now I am older and
reasonably financially secure that I can choose what I want rather than what I
can afford.
Haggling
is something that I am not equipped for, the English have been conditioned to
accept that the price offered is a fair one and it is up to you to accept it or
not, never to complain only moan about it later.
My
aunt Gert used to spend ages buying bargains and then
selling them to other members of the family telling everybody that they were
really good value. The main problem was
they were very good value only if you wanted them. The adage that "nobody saves money by
spending money” seems to have passed her by completely.
Another wonderful thing I was
taught was never buy the first item that you like - wait until you see the
others, there might be something better down the road. A very good sentiment but it has no end, when
do you stop looking? What happens if you
decide the first item is the best and it has now been sold?
My
sister had this problem at the start of her visit to Walthamstow market. In the
first shop she visited she found an item that she liked.
“Why
don't you buy it then” said her boyfriend
"but I've got to check the other shops there might be
something I like more"
"why?"
A very good question to my mind.
"once you have
bought something, stop looking."
(or you will see it
cheaper somewhere else)
Shopping
Malls are a curse - they all have the same shops or variations of them, how
many shops selling the same items are required?
Once in a Shopping Mall you could be anywhere on earth… Is it all a part
of a fiendish plan to totally disorientate people of the western world.
I am a very lucky person, I am married to a lovely lady who
doesn't like shopping for long periods (she loves spending though ) . Together
we have found the joys of Internet shopping, the only
problem is that you need to see the items sometimes. The only way around this is to find what you
want on the Internet and go and buy it in a proper shop where the assistants
actually know about the products, and if they haven’t got it in stock, will
order it.
I
think I have discovered some truths about shopping. A shopping trip to buy shoes does not mean
that you actually go to a shoe shop first, oh no! If you spend the whole day and make loads of
purchases but no shoes so what! and if you have
dragged your partner with you even better. If by some fluke you find a pair of
shoes that you like, one must buy a complete outfit to match the shoes, a new
matching handbag and make up, thus a simple purchase can be made to last a
whole day.
Why
is it that wherever some people go in the world the first thing they want to do
is go shopping? (even if the shops are the same as at
home), and for some reason they want to take their partners with them. I have
had terrible experiences shopping with previous partners, the victim will be
dragged from shop to shop where their partner tries on various different
outfits, the victim will not be shown the outfits but just required to stand
outside the changing room, their opinion is not required and of no
importance. Why are they required? What is the purpose of their existence on
these trips?
We
really cracked it this year, we found a charity where
our money goes directly to the people that need it. They got all the money we would have spent;
we told our friends that we were not buying presents this year, told them why
and most of them added to our pot.