A shopping cart flipped upside down
forms a cage that I use to protect myself from consumerism. Jarod
Kintz
I love this blog post by Andy
Kirkpatrick about hair, it describes absolutely the way I feel about
shopping. I hate shopping, I've even blogged about how much I hate
shopping before. The concept of shopping for fun, pleasure,
entertainment, even therapy, leaves me completely bemused. Isn't
going shopping for kicks kind of like going on vacation to Guantanamo
Bay because you want to be water-boarded on your annual vacation?
But, my trail runners, now with about
1,000 km on them, have blown out at the sides, and I needed a pair of
boots (I haven't hiked in boots since I left Canada and wouldn't be
hiking in boots at all if we weren't going to Tasmania for a year,
land of the thigh deep mud bog). That's how I found myself trying to
avoid inane conversation with about a dozen assorted shop assistants
- even shoppers - while trying to negotiate the local shopping mall
where the roar of shoppers, Muzak, and overly helpful, but ultimately
useless shop assistants made the kind of noise you'd expect if you
were in Baghdad in the middle of the American's "Shock and Awe"
campaign. I should have worn ear-plugs.
Being on the small size has definite
advantages. I can frequently shop in the kiddies section where
clothes and shoes are half the price they are in the adult section.
In one shop, I found a serviceable pair of running shoes at half
price, but, the twittering of the shop attendant, who kept telling me
how "fab" they looked drove me from the store before buying
them, but not before I had finally, caustically replied "I don't
care what they look like." If you saw me, you'd know this is
true. I ascribe to the philosophy espoused by Mark Twight in
"Twitching,"-"Cut your hair. Don't worry about the
grey."
In another shop, the attendant, who
seemed to think we had a soulful bond because we were both from
Canada told me "I used to be 58 kg of raging testosterone and
now I'm 72 kg of flab." "Processed foods are unsuitable
for native animals and are known to cause a range of health problems"
I wanted to quote (from the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service),
but, I just bought the boots and got out.
Do I look like I care if the shoes are "fab?"
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