A view of my nearest mall which I haunt I found the STOP sign funny.
When I was a child, I used to hanker after handmade greeting cards. Now, as an adult, the best card is a credit card. It is the bane and boon of my existence. It buys me pretty things that fill the void of a lost childhood, but it makes me anxious about bills due to pesky adulthood.
That brings me to my thoughts on consumerism. It is instant gratification. If we were taught anything in school, it was that only delayed gratification works, but for me, shopping and buying pretty things is a great pick-me-up.
Instant gratification leads to instant results: My professor used to tell a story about research on this phenomenon. So, children were made to come into rooms, and a stranger would give them an offer:
They would be offered a marshmallow, and if they didn't eat it while the researcher was outside (pondering his profession), they would get a second marshmallow.
However, if they ate it, that's it. No more marshmallows.
The study further stalked, nay, followed, the lives of the subjects, and those that waited for the marshmallow were more successful.
But,
There is something to be said for eating a marshmallow when you want one and not waiting to have more when you don't even want one.
When I'm not feeling that well mentally, a good shopping jaunt, even if it is just window shopping, is awesome. It puts me back on track.
Another reason that may seem laughable but actually works. My personal trainer nags that I don't go for jogs or walks other than the days I train. But if I have to find the perfect t-shirt, watch me put Olympic power walkers to shame. My fitbit might spontaneously combust from the fire of consumerism.
A different and more altruistic reason is that I need to foster the economy. I am the sole person standing between Jeff Bezos and despair. If we don't spend, what are the rich going to eat? What about those gold-foil ice creams and caviar-infused sparkling water? Jokes apart, consumers drive an economy and maintain its balance. If I go even further, consumerism creates jobs.
Female bonding at its best. There is no better way to bond two ladies (generally speaking) than hanging out and shopping while trying clothes they are not going to buy. I personally go and hang out with my girlfriends to shop till we drop... into a bar to consume more alcohol.
Consumerism is the momentum that saves life from inertia.
All pictures have been inexpertly taken by me.
