Yesterday I came out from under my "rock". I have a container of Peppermint Twist hand soap on my bathroom counter from Bath and Body Works. It was a gift (maybe from last Christmas). One of my friends comments favorably on this soap every time she uses it, so I decided to purchase some for her. My husband dropped me off at the J.C. Penney's door at the mall in nearby city, and I began my search for the Bath and Body Works store that I knew lay somewhere in the corridors of the "Great Unknown"!As hard as it may be for some people to believe, I have not been in the mall more than two times in six years (except for Barnes and Noble - maybe 3 times.) It was almost like having an out-of-body experience to walk through J.C. Penney's--not that I've ever actually HAD one. The prices of coats, even at 40%-60% off, felt like bullets hitting a body shield must feel! My internal calculator was spinning out of control as I exited the store and made my way down the hall in search of Bath and Body Works.
To my disappointment, when I got there I was told that Peppermint Twist hand soap has been replaced by many other exotic types. I did leave with a substitute - a 50% off foamy peppermint soap that you can form into shapes. Additionally, I was handed many valuable coupons to spend when I return! I hurried back up the hall, out through J.C. Penney's and into the safe haven of my warm and waiting automobile.
I have not felt so stunned since I returned to my local supermarket after spending 4 weeks in Burkina Faso, West Africa several years ago. I remember leaving the store without making any purchases, unable to handle the sight of so many shelves fully stocked after living in a country of such simplicity and poverty for a month. I really don't have words to express myself and know that few people will understand my reaction. In an attempt to explain myself, I will say that I do most of my personal clothes shopping in thrift stores. Paying $5 for a Lands End red wool coat makes the $260 price tag for a new one seem almost obscene to me personally.
Let me be quick to add, however, that I am glad many people frequent and support the local malls! Without them, there would not be used clothes to thrift! This morning I am trying to gain a balanced perspective on the whole experience. This is my sounding board.
I agree with you sweetie, no mall shopping for me.
ReplyDeleteI very rarely shop the malls except like you, an occasional book store stop. My daughter shops thrift stores and vintage shops for her clothes and she looks adorable. It takes a talent and good eye and you both seem to have it. :)
ReplyDeleteI know a little of how you feel because I feel as though I live a life of greed and OVER-abundance ALL THE TIME! And it wasn't until recently when I made a conscious effort to 'cut back' and simplify did I realize that my so many 'wants' had somehow turned into 'needs' in my mind.
ReplyDeleteNow you and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum, imagine the view you had of this obscene abundance through the eyes of one who viewed that world as the norm for quite a few years, it's not a nice feeling. Shopping at the mall was a weekend pastime for me for many, many years. It feels so wasteful now. I don't know what the eye-opener was for me, there was no 'one moment' but I gradually began to see that way of life as such a wasteful way of life.
And now it holds no attraction for me as it once did.
And I'm starting to feel that way about my home too, I am trying to rid my home and my life of wasteful distractions.
Thank you for another reminder!
Love to you,
Eileen
The Mall doesn't do much for me either.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, andrea
Eileen (and EVERYBODY), I don't want to come across as critical of ANYONE who does and can support/enjoy/sustain the lifestyle that mall shopping offers. I have lived so long w/o it that it is unnatural and unattractive to me. It also makes me wonder HOW IN THE WORLD people can afford it! I know I don't work outside the home - but even if I did I'm not sure I would choose to spend my hard-earned wages that way.... (Don't get me wrong. I saw some VERY attractive clothes as I hurried through the aisles of JCP!)
ReplyDeleteThe first place I head to at any store or mall when I need to shop, is the clearance section and then the sale section and if what I need is not there then I usually just wait....like with our bathroom rugs which produce enough rug fiber when washed now to make another rug or two! So the house will get a Christmas gift of new bathroom rugs this year, a griddle on sale and a blanket for our bed.
ReplyDeleteblessings and warm hugs,
marcy
That's MY kind of shopping, Marcy. I'm sure if there was something I needed, that would be my shopping strategy, too! Glad your house gets its Christmas gifts this year. They sound cozy and useful, too!
ReplyDeleteRebecca, I would NEVER think of you as critical, you were just being honest with your feelings and I was being honest with mine. I was (and still am in many ways) a very materialistic person.
ReplyDeleteSlowly but surely I am trying to change my ways.
But I don't think any less of the people that I used to go on my shopping trips with, some of them still want that lifestyle, and that's fine, it's just not something that I want for myself anymore.
I don't feel good about myself doing it but I still feel good about my friends, and I get a kick out of how excited they are when they get something new.
Even outlet shopping doesn't hold the same attraction for me as it once did. I like to go to maybe one or two bargain stores now and not whole outlets. Once in awhile we do a trip like that (maybe once or twice a year now), but mostly I shop Target, Walmart, K Mart, TJ Maxx, Michael's, stores like that. And of course the thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales, etc.
I guess you could say I used to have champagne taste on a beer budget, moved on to fine wine on a beer budget, and now I have cheap wine taste on a beer budget, so I'm edger closer to where I need to be!
If I can't find it at Meijers, Costco, Target, Kohls, or Lowes I don't need it. I really can't remember the last time I was in a mall.
ReplyDeleteRebecca, I love this post and all the reactions it has gotten from my friends. I love to shop but couldn't do it all the time nor do I want too. Whenever I visit the States I have to admit JC Penny's is one of my favorite stores.....okay so I am materialistic, but I love the beautiful clothes you wear in your pictures....:-) Hugs
ReplyDeleteRebecca... Take my hand. I'm right there with you, my friend. Mall shopping is not for me, either. There is just too much hustle and bustle...and I don't like being 'barked' at by the kiosk people. I go into the mall when I "have" to (bookstore...occasionally to get my nails done...(years ago)...) but otherwise, I like the smaller shops.
ReplyDeleteWe'd be great shopping buddies!!
Love to you,
Jackie
I'm with you...I avoid shopping like the plague...hate it!!! Would much rather make something myself or re-purpose stuff...I do not like shopping!!! And the prices...well, things just get more and more expensive...and my pocketbook has not kept up...and so...I send much sympathy to you regarding your recent ordeal ;-) Love to you~Janine XO
ReplyDeleteI don't like shopping at all and I don't like malls at all. I don't like clothes shopping either. I don't like food shopping. The only shopping that truly gives me pleasure is thrift shopping, as I can imagine a story behind everything there. LOve Di
ReplyDeleteI was CERTAIN I was alone in my aversion/reaction to the mall after so long an absence from it. I was almost sure no one would understand....but apparently we've done a good job of finding each other.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI went to the mall for the first time in about a year and only made it to JC Penny. Everything looked so pretty though and tempting. I dislike shopping--any kind. But I was pleased with my Penny's shopping. I had been looking for a simple poncho for one granddaughter. It was on her list last year and this year. I found one for less than $12 and it is so cute. I bought one for the other GD as well because they love to match. I am excited.
I went inside the local mall for Christmas shopping the other day - it was the first time I had been in there in probably 6 years. Like you, I wanted something from Penney's and then Bath & Body Works. People rushing, bumping into me, I felt like a salmon swimming upstream! Have a Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteAbbey, That is the best desciption yet! "A salmon swimming upstream"....
ReplyDeleteI confess to the joy of people watching when I go to the mall. I really don't go all that often...cannot remember when I've shopped for clothes last. I was in JCP sometime in October cause I priced the suede purses and vowed to go find a similar one at a thrift store...and I did. Big difference between $60 and $4. (big smile)
ReplyDeleteps I'm hooked on the eucalyptus-spearmint fragrance from Bath & Body Works. Fortunately we have a store that is in a plaza and not a mall...so I can just walk in and out when they are having a great sale!
ReplyDeleteOh, I just remembered something.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law LOVED shopping! It was a happy past time for her. She was a clothes-horse, and she was a beautiful woman and she wore clothes well (she's still beautiful, still wears clothes well, but she's confined now as she has Parkinson's Disease).
My mother-in-law would get all her shopping done way before Christmas (I think even before Thanksgiving!), but she liked to go to the mall a day or two before Christmas (after all her cleaning, shopping, wrapping and baking was done), and she would get a cup of coffee at the food court, sit herself down amid the hustle and bustle, and just watch others shop! She loved it! She did it for so many years. She said it made her feel peaceful!
I guess I can see where it might give you a self-satisfied feeling, but I never really got it. I think I would feel frantic in that atmosphere, but it was something she enjoyed.