Why I Hate Shopping
Let's just say I did not go shopping today. Not necessarily because of Buy Nothing Day, but because I was scared. Scared for the sake of my own mental health that is.
I hate shopping. No, you don't understand. Let me say it more clearly. I. Hate. Shopping. I HATE SHOPPING! The very act is a sure, slow death by psychic exsanguination. Here's why:
1. Shopping, like driving, brings out the worst in people. Making a mess while rifling through the sale rack looking for that one size 7 blouse, shooting each other over Playstations - need I say more?
2. Nobody looks like they're having fun while they're shopping, which is strange, because people seem to do it a lot. If I am in error, please take a picture of someone who looks like they are having fun shopping and send it to me.
3. Even if the shopping trip was successful - and it is almost never succesful, because the retail environment is not set up to help you find what you want - I always come home with a nauseous headache and an empty feeling resulting from a combination of sensory overkill, psychic residuals from angry, greedy people who aren't having fun, and the suspicion that whatever I bought is just going to fall apart soon anyway.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
I hate shopping. No, you don't understand. Let me say it more clearly. I. Hate. Shopping. I HATE SHOPPING! The very act is a sure, slow death by psychic exsanguination. Here's why:
1. Shopping, like driving, brings out the worst in people. Making a mess while rifling through the sale rack looking for that one size 7 blouse, shooting each other over Playstations - need I say more?
2. Nobody looks like they're having fun while they're shopping, which is strange, because people seem to do it a lot. If I am in error, please take a picture of someone who looks like they are having fun shopping and send it to me.
3. Even if the shopping trip was successful - and it is almost never succesful, because the retail environment is not set up to help you find what you want - I always come home with a nauseous headache and an empty feeling resulting from a combination of sensory overkill, psychic residuals from angry, greedy people who aren't having fun, and the suspicion that whatever I bought is just going to fall apart soon anyway.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
posted by Christine Borne at 2:24 PM
5 Comments:
Point number 3 is a great point!
Retail is designed for you to get what THEY want you to buy. That's why the candy is right there in the line. Kids go "I want candy!" and you either have to say no to your kid (which, most times, I do) or give in.
Retail is becoming more and more bold...and it worries me.
I only bought about 10 bucks worth of stuff from CVS yesterday...stuff I would have bought anyway. I was making dinner for my son.
I probably would have done buy nothing day anyway.
I'd like to hear a sound argument in favor of marketing to kids. Everything I've heard is just slimy and reprehensible. Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser did a book for kids called Chew On This, in which he describes how the advertising industry studies how kids nag, in order to get them to nag their parents more effectively. I've heard parents say that it's not easy to tell your kids no, but I don't remember my mom having a problem with it, and I don't think I will either, frankly. All it takes is careful cultivation of "the look." Luckily, the facial features I inherited from my mother combined with those I inherited from my paternal grandmother make my "look" even more fearsome than Mom's - I can't wait to use it!
I bought nothing yesterday. But I was alseep most of the day and didn't leave the house.
As for retail, I view it like chiropractic. You never want to visit when you need your back cracked. You go when you feel great, and it maintains that great feeling. Similarly, never go shopping when you need something. You just go when the fancy hits you. I buy all my greeting cards that way. A couple times a year I get into the card buying mode and pick up many.
As for "retail fun"... I think the only time it is fun to go shopping when you don't need anything at all. Because of course the temple of shopping is designed to be smoke, mirrors, and suggestion. The fun can be had in laughing at the hypnotized. And, surprisingly, I often find a small item here and there.
Ever thought about shopping online? We can use our library skills to find exactly what we want. It's easy for a librarian to create a search-string at an online store which will in highly relevant results. There are even sites like froogle which operate as federated search/metasearch engines for shopping sites, so you can "save the time of the shopper." Ranganathan would be proud
I hate it too. I'm with you on all fronts.
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