Shopping experience IP

Pawing all the goods.
The clothes, the salad dressings, the kettles.
Can’t get enough.

Just have to buy something.
Don’t need it.
Can’t afford it.
Don’t want to miss anything.

The bargains, the discounts, the cheap things, the sales.
Don’t need them.
Can’t help yourself.

Plastic thrills,
badly sewn clothes that shrink as soon as they’re washed,
a mug produced by cheap Chinese labour,
a cheap electric kettle
that breaks down a couple of times after being taken into use,
a pair of shoes in imitation leather which soak up the rain and snow
to leave your feet wet and cold,
a dress with hems so crooked that it
feels uncomfortable,
a picture frame that is all wobbly,
a flower that will wilt as soon as
you take it home,
a tee shirt where the orange bleeds into all the other
colours in the washing machine.

Why is all this made for consumption
and just dumped on bargain hunters?

Discuss this piece in the abctales forum


Comments

RachelPatricia | October 24, 2010 - 13:21

Last two lines sum up my thoughts exactly!

Really enjoyed this and believe me, I can relate to every line - I'm an impulse buyer who buys random tat just because there's 50% off, too :)

Rachel xx

Highhat | October 24, 2010 - 13:27

I like looking Rachel but I hate buying nowadays. Used to come home with some terrible things that just didn't last so I have become very wary
Thanks for reading and your kind comment
;)Pia

skinner_jennifer | October 24, 2010 - 14:45

Hi Pia,
Funny thing shopping, you go out with good intentions, then you see something you think you
need, and think 'Ah what the hek!' You summed it up
brilliantly in your poem. But like you, as we get
older we wise up to this scandal and are not so
willing to part with our money.
Thanks for a good read.
Jenny.

Highhat | October 24, 2010 - 15:04

Hi Jenny thanks for reading and commenting. Yes we do wise up- but I think they exploit good intentions by dumping crap on us. That is my opinion and I pity the poor people who put effort into producing this crap.They are surely underpaid. Makes you wonder doesn't it ? It gets my goat actually Hmmphf
;)Pia

skinner_jennifer | October 24, 2010 - 15:29

Hi Pia,
I once bought a huge candle in the under a pound
shop, I only paid ten pence for it, got it home lit
it, the candle was about 8 inches long, the wick
was only 2 inches long. However I melted the candle
wax and made my own canle out of it, so it wasn't so
bad. But I know what you mean. A Hmmphf from me too!
Jenny.

Highhat | October 24, 2010 - 15:44

I'm glad you didn't pay more than 10p for it since you had to make your own candle- very inventive- I wonder if I could have thought of that?I bought a sweatshirt that completely went out of shape- I really was cheesed off- that is just one experience but I guess I was a bit ignorant or I just couldn't afford anything more expensive! That's just it- you can't afford designer things and you have to pay for crap-to put it mildly ;) exactly Hrmmphf

RachelPatricia | October 24, 2010 - 16:15

Funniest thing I ever absent-mindedly bought was a set of His & Hers handtowels - not so funny on their own, but the fancy-scrolled lettering on one of them had come away so that they read 'Jis & Hers' - still tickles me to this day :)

I tend now to only buy tat from charity shops, as even if I get it home and find I have no actual use for it, I still think 'well, it was for a good cause'.

And Jenny, I too admire your ingenius creativity when faced with a useless candle! Will remember that one for next time, as the same thing has happened to me too in the past. We must remain vigilant at all times ;o)

Rachel xx

Highhat | October 24, 2010 - 17:15

I can relate to the tat from Charity shops Rachel- but you have to be quick off the mark to buy a real bargain there!! ;) I'm sure some of the arty shops hunt down bargains in the charity shops and sell them for a lot more!!! Ha !!
;)Pia

RachelPatricia | October 24, 2010 - 19:52

Yes, they do! I read an article once about a woman who scoured the charity shops for vintage designer pieces and then opened her own shop and sold them all for ridiculous prices, to me that seems almost criminal...and at the same time I wish I'd have thought of it :)

So now we know why there's never anything decent in when we go in there - she's been in already!!

Rachel xx

Highhat | October 24, 2010 - 22:05

I didn't even imagine it could be done but I suppose some people just don't stop at anything. Yes it is a bit criminal but you could earn a fortune couldn't you?

Pia;)

Kahdai | October 31, 2010 - 19:20

Get a goat haha yes well its not right they make things you can only afford not last long expensive clothes should wearthrough quicker because its poor people who need their clothes to last longer :/ ii shal join with a hhrhmph! I like melting candles back anyway because often are to wide for the wick and leave just atunnel burnt through the middle! K

Highhat | October 31, 2010 - 21:39

Thanks for coming along Kahdai. Nice to "see" you again
;)Pia

Kahdai | October 31, 2010 - 22:36

yep :) you too