The mail has brought good news. Points that I have meticulously gathered on my credit card have borne fruit in the form of shopping vouchers…Yay!!!
I am out at 10.30 a.m. to buy out the entire mall with these vouchers. There’s a feeling of dizzy happiness as I contemplate, make lists and eliminate choices in my head.
When I finally get to the mall, I head straight to the clothes section. What a riot of colours and designs. I start with a few tops, go to the trial room, try them on – I like only one out of the seven. I go back again, come back with one more batch from two other brands. None of them seem to look nice on me.
But I am determined. I go for the third round. I am not adventurous now, I bring back a mixed batch of my regulars and the ‘ohhh I wish I could wear that’ clothes.
One of the dresses from the ‘ohhh I wish..’ category seems to have been designed with me in mind. I gasp in joy and excitement. I dream of parties to which I will wear this outfit, I dream about clutches and footwear, accessories and hairdos. I have decided on this piece. I look at the price tag; my eyes pop out as I realize that it costs double the value of my vouchers.
I am unhappy. I want a friend, who will egg me on to buy this dress and fight my hyper-active guilty conscience. I want coffee…..
I go back for round four. My hair is a mess and my arms are aching from all the trial room excursions.
Round four is the sober me – all the excitement has fizzled out. My goal is to get full value for the vouchers in my handbag. I focus on my regular brands and head to the cosmetics section, and ask for my regular lipstick.
The sales lady says, “That’s an old model, we now have this dual matte and gloss lipstick. This is all the rage now.”
Oh! Am I out of touch? I buy the dual lipstick, to be in the ‘now’!
Three tops and one lipstick, and I have exhausted the voucher amount.
Four long hours- that started off with promise and hope and colours and designs – have ended on a sober note.
Vouchers spent, nothing has changed, three new additions to my collection, and I STILL HAVE NOTHING SUITABLE TO WEAR.
Simple Moments of Life 