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Shop shop shop, shop till u drop

Do you like shopping? If someone asks me that question, usually I answer that generally I don't really like shopping. Not that I hate hate shopping, but I don't have any taste for branded stuff, I tend to shop for things that I need, and I don't have that much of money to make shopping as my hobby, hahaha.

When I was a little kid, I never know what Nike is, how it feels when you wear Adidas, and never have some luxurious stuffs. When I wanted to buy a pair of expensive nice shoes (I thought it was expensive, but now I know it is not even a real branded stuff), my mom always told me - can you imagine other people that need to spend the same amount of money of your shoes' price for the whole month to live?

Things changed a bit when I was in college, having many friends who taste branded stuffs ;) After I graduated and earned my own money, sometimes I spent my money to buy good stuffs. Not a lot, but when I really needed it, or really wanted it, I bought the good stuffs if I knew I could afford it.

Apparently what I did is nothing compared to American shopping habit. Here, people tend to spend much money to buy any good stuffs. As they have more income than Indonesian, they also spend more. People are encouraged to spend more, more, and more. At the end of every season, there is always an end season sale, which is usually really a good deal. However, in my opinion, it also triggers people to shop more than they really need. Everytime there is a good deal, then go for it, no matter you really need it or not.

Black Friday is the way people called the day after Thanksgiving. Many people said that stores always have big sale on this day. You can go very early to the malls like 5 o'clock in the morning to get very good deals, and usually people are queueing in front of the stores to get in.

Curiousity brought me and my friends to Groove City, an outlet mall outside Pittsburgh. It was opened at midnight and had great sales. At midnight we drove there. Oh mannn, just before the exit (from the highway), there was a very bad traffic. Every cars were heading to the mall, and we were stuck for about 1 - 2 hours just for taking the exit. Like crazy, people went shopping, trying to find a good deal. It wasn't worthed, not at all.

That crazy night made me think, how shopping has become an 'American hobby'. People shops not only one or two items in a store. If you go to a fitting room, it is not unusual if you see someone have 8 items in her hands. Sometimes I think, what are they doing? Do they really need those 8 items at that time?

Well, I can't say it is bad. Economy runs well when people spend more. On the other hand, I always think, do we really need to shop that much? Oh well, it is just a simple thinking of mine.

Comments

Anonymous said…
No, they don't really need those things.. Shopping is addictive... Dan lagi, mumpung muraah 'boo.. gitu kali mit, sama kaya orang disini ;) Hehehehe
Anonymous said…
aku sih kalo belanjanya an sich ga terlalu parah.. tapi window shopping, bisa berjam2 :D
Anonymous said…
waspadalah.. nafsu belanja bisa menguras kantong dan mengalahkan logika :P

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