Due to my hatred of all things shopping, on days when I need to go to the mall, I will typically use any excuse I can find to delay the inevitable ("Oooh...I really need to organize my spice cupboard before I go"). As a result, I usually find myself in the mall at the end of the day, when the sales clerks are at their grouchiest and the throngs of obnoxious teenaged girls are at their thickest. It's never a fun experience for introverted me, who has an inherent dislike for loudness and too many people getting into my personal space.
Yesterday, however, I was forced to do my mall shopping early, as I had my photography lesson in the afternoon. And I discovered something amazing - there is virtually no one in the mall at 10 am. Sure, there are a few mall-walking seniors and an assortment of frazzled mothers with young children, but otherwise the mall is a great expanse of emptiness. The change rooms are mostly open, there are no lines at the cash registers, and not once did I have to hear the phrase "Oh my gawd. Did you see what Amber was wearing last night?" coming from an overly made up fourteen-year old with her boobs spilling out over her too short t-shirt*.
I was almost gleeful as I made my way through the deserted stores, selecting what I wanted from the piles of neatly folded clothing that had not yet been demolished by shoppers searching for their elusive size. In less than two hours, I managed to get everything on my list (four bras, five pairs of underwear, one pair of jeans that actually cover my ass even when I bend over) and a few things not on my list (one t-shirt, three dress shirts, and one cardigan to add to the dozen or so in my closet). Success! Never again will I go to the mall in the afternoon. (Of course, with all the shopping I did yesterday, I shouldn't need to go back for months to years.)
*I am just realizing that I will likely have to disown my nieces from the ages of 12 to 18. Either that or start working on them now so that they will be just as nerdy and disinterested in anything "cool" as I was as a teenager.
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In other news, I seem to have recently jumped with both feet onto the Blog Hop bandwagon. It's helpful to me to have a writing prompt (such as with the Friday night "Happies and Crappies"), and it's always nice to have new people visiting the blog and commenting (You all know that I'm a comment whore, right?). So it occurred to me, while I was looking at Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine and not wanting to tackle the chapter on dysfunction of the adrenal cortex**, that I too could host a blog hop. So I will!
With Valentine's Day fast approaching, the blogosphere is about to get overwhelmed by posts about romantic dates and wonderful boyfriends/girlfriends/spouses, which is enough to activate a single woman's area postrema. In response, I thought I'd host a blog hop for any single blogger who has thoughts he/she wants to share about love/romance/Valentine's Day/etc. Kinda like the single people's Valentine's Day dinners that I used to host, except via the internet and with less chocolate. The blog hop will be open to single bloggers of all stripes, whether a lifelong single by choice/circumstance or more recently single through separation/divorce/death. I'll open the blog hop on Monday, February 11 and keep accepting submissions until Friday, February 15.
Please join! And feel free to advertise the blog hop on your blogs. Can't wait to see who joins the discussion.
(And now to study and run and do laundry and buy groceries in preparation for the beginning of another week.)
**Followed immediately after by the equally exciting chapter on dysfunction of the adrenal medulla. Don't you wish you were an internal medicine resident?
7 comments:
This made me laugh. I actually used to loooove shopping. I still do but I do it mainly online because I hate crowded stores. BUT- I am on an off month and my BFF is on ER and has random shifts, so last week we went to the outlets (which are normally insane) at 10 am on a Tuesday. It was amazing.
Exactly why I like to go to the grocery store early in the morning as well. I love grocery shopping, but hate the crowds. (Though I don't really love clothes shopping, hence why I do so much of it online.) ANYWAY, sounds like you had a very productive outing. Hooray for successful shopping!
We recently learned the mall thing as well. IT WAS HEAVENLY. lol
teenage girls are quite a breed apart aren't they!
Count me in for the blog hop, dreaded time of year for a singleton who works in an office filled with people getting huge bunches of flowers. I have thought of sending myself some on more than one scansion but resisted so far!
Clothes shopping: every man's nightmare.
Actually, that's not true. I've found over the years that we're just really focused shoppers: if we go shopping for one pair of pants, we come out of the store with one pair of pants. The idea of trying on other things "just because we're there" never crosses our minds! :)
C - Shopping when the mall is quiet is a whole other experience. It's unbelievable!
Molly - Ooh, yes, grocery shopping at off hours is also good. The grocery stores here recently started opening on Sunday mornings, and I discovered that they're deserted and well-stocked at 9 am. Also a good find.
Jenna - So true!
Sharron - Glad to hear you'll be joining the blog hope. The more the merrier!
Geekhiker - I think part of the reason that women try on things "just because we're there" is because it's so hard to find good clothing. For men, you have a very limited number of options - short-sleeved t-shirts, long-sleeved t-shirts, short/long-sleeved dress shirts - so it's easy to find things that work for you. For women, on the other hand, a simple t-shirt comes with the choice of v-neck and scoop neck and cowl neck and lace-trimmed and bedazelled (etc, etc), so finding something that works can be a nightmare. I try to try things on whenever I'm in a vaguely appropriate store so as to increase my likelihood of having enough clothing for a somewhat socially acceptable wardrobe.
When you go shopping earlier in the day it is an entirely different environment and so much more pleasant. I also enjoy online shopping because there are fewer hassles.
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