Shopping

A colleague and I started chatting the other day and at one point we started talking about malls. Now everyone who knows me well, knows that I don’t like malls. I prefer small shopping centres or stand-alone shops. Maybe because before I go shopping, I make sure I know exactly what I want. I go into this specific shop, I get what I want and I leave. Usually there’s no browsing through items, no fitting on clothes and (heaven forbid) no window shopping. My colleague responded and said, “How interesting. Because I’m the total opposite.” He told me that he takes his time when he shops. He likes fitting on clothes and he goes into every shop. Needless to say he loves malls. And then, I can’t remember if it was me or him who stumbled across this awesome metaphor (it was me) but someone said (me): “Hey, it’s almost like dating!” And a door opened up. It was! It absolutely WAS like dating!

He liked going to the mall to do his shopping – he liked going out to clubs to do his “shopping”. I am impatient when it comes to “shopping”. You get it? Anyway, when I walk into a store, I know exactly what I’m looking for and I don’t compromise. But every so often I get swindled by a smooth sales pitch or like most women I can easily fall for a pair of fabulous stilettos or fairy-wing-like underwear. Okay, back to him. He said he goes into every shop in a mall to take a look at the merchandise – I only go to the shops I usually buy from. Come to think of it, I’ve never gone into any other shops than the ones I’m used to. While my colleague likes looking at everything the shops have to offer. He loves fitting on clothes in the shops. I hate it! I like fitting on clothes at home and when it doesn’t fit, I return it. He likes taking his time with his items. I pick what I want, commit and get the hell out of there. Basically, I think malls are symbolic of social establishments people occupy in order to find their mates. I love it! It makes perfectly sense.

I have another friend who takes forever just picking out coffee or milk or sugar. She would read the labels thoroughly before she buys anything and she doesn’t even look at the Ricoffy or House brands. Only the best will do. And so it is in the dating world. For some reason this metaphor just works wonderfully. How you shop seems to be how you date. Okay, I'm not saying men - or women for that matter - is like cans of corn or bars of soaps of pairs of jeans. I think it's more to do with how we make decisions about things. Shopping means you invest in something, whether temporarily or long-term and I think therefor we tap into the same thing we tap into when we shop - when we date. Isn’t it funny? So next time you are in a mall or a shopping centre or a stand-alone shop, stop and think about the way you like to do your shopping – it might be exactly the way you like to do your dating too ;)