En-shop-tainment

Do you shop for entertainment purposes? I never thought I did, but these last two weeks I have been trying not to spend anything apart from the occasional lunch (and yes, that parking charge and Starbucks from Saturday), because of the old bank balance situation, and I've realized that I really did waste a lot of time shopping.

I mean, I wasn't one to troll the malls every weekend, far from it. It was never my first choice of something to do. But, you know, I might find myself there on a random weekend day, telling myself that I needed some new work pants, or something. And then I might end up browsing through handbags and perfume as well. Or I might find myself in Old Navy looking at t-shirts. Hell, even a quick trip to CVS for some aspirin might turn into a leisurely perusal of the moisturizer aisle. Or, the worst offender of the lot, I might find myself in Barnes & Noble. Which is disastrous for the wallet. More often, though, I'd head to the supermarket. Yes, I grocery shop for entertainment. You see, it's not like I don't have kitchen cabinets full of food, but instead of digging around and finding that falafel mix that was about to go out of date, or the frozen veggies that have been gathering freezer burn for a while, I'd tell myself I need more fresh vegetables or that I was about to run out of pasta (disaster!) and off I'd go, getting tasty little tidbits and interesting food items to try. At least with the grocery store you can tell yourself you are not being frivolous. That it's a chore. A necessity.

It gives you something to do, gets you out of the house, gives you a few minutes or more of time spent quietly looking at things. And then the thrill of finding a must-have or a new item and forking over the credit card. It can be quite an entertaining way to pass time. Now, of course, I'm sure I'd feel differently about grocery shopping if I had a rambunctious three year-old in tow. I'm sure then it can be a hideous nightmare - but one I'd gladly swap (most of the time) for any chance to buy organic goat cheese and cranberry spread on my own.

I admit, I thought I was better than people who were addicted to shopping. I was not one of those people who go out and buy so many designer clothing items that they can't afford or who sits and compusively dials a home shopping channel, I thought. But really, it's all a matter of degree, isn't it? I mean, how many falafel mixes does a person really need? How many t-shirts should a person have cluttering up her dresser? Actually forcing yourself not to go and take part in these activities can be eye-opening.

Hello, my name is Sarah and I'm addicted to shopping.