Its April already and it has been a while since my last bit of retail therapy. There is just no way I can last till my birthday without splurging a bit. Grocery shopping and paying bills do not count as retail therapy; neither is buying pressies for other people. On our way to grocery shopping on Saturday, I was dragged into Southgate because M wanted to buy a CD. As a result, we entered the city via Elizabeth Street and I saw a note stuck on the window of a popular craft shop announcing a 20% discount of everything in store and sewing patterns (of all major brands) for $5 each for 3 days only. On reading that, I instantly wanted to buy quite a few things in there but unfortunately there just wasn’t enough time for me to visit the shop that day. I plotted over lunch to go on Monday since it was not open on Easter Sunday. With a devilish smirk I thought that if M bought a CD for himself then I too could buy myself a little something.
Well that little something turned into a small pile of patterns and gadgets that ended up costing close to 5x of what M paid for his CD! I felt extremely guilty after the initial high and after receiving news that my Mum will be off again on another trip overseas, the nasty me appeared to wreck havoc within the confined space of our little pigeon hole. I was Miss Impossible and M bore the brunt of it all. LOL. He was accused of not being proactive and offering too little support. He probably wondered how a bit of retail therapy could turn so nasty.
$5 per pattern is really a bargain. The recommended retail price for each of those three patterns I bought is normally around $15 - $17. This means that I saved as much as $30 on the patterns alone. As for the gadgets, I am not sure yet if they are any good. I didn’t do enough research online before purchasing them but I do admit that I am quite a sucker for little gadgets. I mean I do know basic embroidery and I also think it is quite possible to make a yo-yo without these two pieces of plastic but I am very curious to find out for myself how they work. Do they really make things easy? Besides, I am quite a fan of the range of products by Clover. The dizzying effect of a little retail therapy even caused me to downplay the indifference of the shop assistant towards me but it’s obvious that it wasn’t dizzying enough for me to not notice what was going on though. I remember thinking that while I didn’t receive a bright and cheerful service like the previous customer, I should be grateful that I was allowed to buy the things I wanted. How pathetic?
When I went shopping on Monday, I went on my own. I like my own company because it gives me ample time to browse and make ‘careful’ decisions. However there are still remnant bits and pieces of my old self that totally disapproves of being seen in public on my own unless I am working or running errands. This came about from when I came to Australia. Months after my arrival, I learned that it wasn’t a socially acceptable norm to do anything considered to be a social experience independently. Activities like shopping, watching a movie, eating out, visiting iconic places and such must all be done so with at least one other friend (preferably in a group of 4-6), presumably to look like you have a social life. It’s a bit like the current trend to constantly check one’s mobile phone to read text messages. I am not sure if this came about because of the people that I hung out with then or if it has something to do with my then age group. It probably has something to do with being young and foreign. I found it troublesome and stifling but I hate to be judged by my own more than anything so that’s why I am still a bit bothered by being seen on my own in public to this day.
Well that little something turned into a small pile of patterns and gadgets that ended up costing close to 5x of what M paid for his CD! I felt extremely guilty after the initial high and after receiving news that my Mum will be off again on another trip overseas, the nasty me appeared to wreck havoc within the confined space of our little pigeon hole. I was Miss Impossible and M bore the brunt of it all. LOL. He was accused of not being proactive and offering too little support. He probably wondered how a bit of retail therapy could turn so nasty.
$5 per pattern is really a bargain. The recommended retail price for each of those three patterns I bought is normally around $15 - $17. This means that I saved as much as $30 on the patterns alone. As for the gadgets, I am not sure yet if they are any good. I didn’t do enough research online before purchasing them but I do admit that I am quite a sucker for little gadgets. I mean I do know basic embroidery and I also think it is quite possible to make a yo-yo without these two pieces of plastic but I am very curious to find out for myself how they work. Do they really make things easy? Besides, I am quite a fan of the range of products by Clover. The dizzying effect of a little retail therapy even caused me to downplay the indifference of the shop assistant towards me but it’s obvious that it wasn’t dizzying enough for me to not notice what was going on though. I remember thinking that while I didn’t receive a bright and cheerful service like the previous customer, I should be grateful that I was allowed to buy the things I wanted. How pathetic?
When I went shopping on Monday, I went on my own. I like my own company because it gives me ample time to browse and make ‘careful’ decisions. However there are still remnant bits and pieces of my old self that totally disapproves of being seen in public on my own unless I am working or running errands. This came about from when I came to Australia. Months after my arrival, I learned that it wasn’t a socially acceptable norm to do anything considered to be a social experience independently. Activities like shopping, watching a movie, eating out, visiting iconic places and such must all be done so with at least one other friend (preferably in a group of 4-6), presumably to look like you have a social life. It’s a bit like the current trend to constantly check one’s mobile phone to read text messages. I am not sure if this came about because of the people that I hung out with then or if it has something to do with my then age group. It probably has something to do with being young and foreign. I found it troublesome and stifling but I hate to be judged by my own more than anything so that’s why I am still a bit bothered by being seen on my own in public to this day.
1 comment:
Oh I love craft shops, too. You'll have to let me know how the yoyo maker goes. I have been looking at buying one for quite a while but never actually just do it.
I really like shopping by myself. I pretend I'm someone else way more exciting than I am. :)
Hope your mum comes back soon.
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