Yesterday, I went to the mall. For some people, this is an enjoyable, relaxing activity. Some people delight in going there as often as possible. Not me. For me, the mall is generally an exhausting, cranky-making endeavor. The crowds, the commotion, the crappy music, the dithering over purchases... It's an activity fraught with potential pitfalls. But, when it's Clinique Bonus Time and I'm almost out of moisturizer, it's time to suck it up and go.
I swear, cosmetics saleswomen (they're always impeccably groomed women, except for the delightful, very helpful, totally flaming male Clinique associate I dealt with a few years ago) have a sixth sense about product whores like me. They swoop in immediatedly and, before I know it, I've bought way more than I planned to. It's like they slip some transdermal roofie into the tester products. Everything's a blur, and once you regain your wits, you have no idea how that super-sized tube of purple mascara got in your bag. But I digress. I managed to stick to my guns this time and buy only the things I came for: gentle foaming cleanser, a new supply of moisturizer, and some perfume. OK, I was suckered into buying the mega-bottle of perfume, but it was such a deal! Twice as much for only $12 more! I know, I know, I'm a complete sucker. But it smells great and I will use it all, so... Nyah!
I also purchased a few things at the Body Shop (10% off with the special club card I purchased a while ago in another moment of giddy, product-induced weakness). Then, it was time for Victoria's Secret where I spent forever trying on about 10 different bras. Man, those puppies are expensive, which is why I took my time finding ones that fit well. I haven't bought any new boob-suspenders in about a year, and my ta-tas deserve the best.
We had to go through Best Buy anyway to get back to the car, so we browsed for a bit. As I was looking at the bargain DVDs, some dude materialized from the Action/Adventure aisle and starting hitting on me. This was a first. I mean, men have tried to chat me up before, but never in an electronics superstore. It was pretty weird, really. It didn't seem like he was shopping or anything, just... lurking. As soon as I politely rebuffed him ("Hey, Carlos, nice to meet you. I'm just here shopping with my boyfriend, who's right over there"), he immediately melted back into the aisles. A little creepy.
So, that was my shopping adventure in a nutshell. I'm poorer by a good chunk of change, but my boobs are well-dressed, I smell nice, my face is soft and clean, and, best of all, I won't have to go back to the mall for another couple of months. Yippee!
Posted by thevieve at March 9, 2003 12:48 PM | TrackBackSHEEEEEE'S BACK!!!!!!!!
Posted by: karl control on March 9, 2003 1:48 PMHey hey!
Posted by: Evan on March 9, 2003 4:49 PMYay! Glad to see you're back posting again. I've been a shopping fanatic lately, as if I'm loaded. :) After the last few weeks, I realized I have to slow down or else I'm really gonna be broke.
Posted by: moonshine on March 10, 2003 1:38 PMWell- there must be something about Best Buys that attract the wierdos to us, Gen. I was in one about a year and a half ago and I was looking in the Ben Fold Five section for the new Ben Folds (minus the 5... er, 2... whatever), when the short, rather creepy sales clerk came up to me.
"Looking for the new Ben Folds CD? It won't be out for another week."
Disappointed, I smiled (because I am a nice person) and then asked him if they had some other band (can't remember the name at the moment).
The freeky clerk stayed by my side and soon he was telling me about his girlfriend that dumped him, about how he likes to hang out with his friend and listen to jazz, that he hates his job... there was probably something else in there about "gaming" (not to offend anyone...). I had read somewhere or seen some show about body language, and I decided to try out some of the techniques and soon my whole body was facing away from him, while my face, with its pained expression, still looked at him (again- I'm nice).
I think I got out of it by telling him I work in Human Resources and that if he really hated his job he should check out my companies website. (Which reminds me of another funny story from LAX... I'll tell you later...)
Usually you can't get much more that a shrug and a grunt from those Best Buy clerks, but that store had a bunch of particularly chatty ones... I don't think I went back again- thank god I move a lot! :)
Posted by: Adrienne on March 15, 2003 11:27 AM