No Return Policy

I never miss the opportunity to shop.  I look at it as a sport or such that somehow justifies that I am doing my part for the economy.  I also find it cheaper than most hobbies and quite the social venture.  This was all before I went out to our local establishments for a little retail therapy with a visiting friend from England.

Seeing your own country and its offerings through the eyes of a foreign visitor is an amazing reality check and the state of affairs of what we call home.  Keeping in mind that “Dallas”, “Baywatch”, “Sex in The City” and “The Sopranos” are played frequently and in prime time all over Europe, the perception of how our visitors view the United States and its people is just a tad bit slanted from the decadent side shown on television reruns.  It looked like shopping was only going to confirm this belief.

With eyes as big as saucers, my friend entered a department store and encountered her first taste of the enormous amount of assortment that is presented.  Like a kid in a candy store she scanned over the racks and moved in.  Within five minutes her arms were filled with potential purchases and she was slightly salivating as she headed onward.  She had a glaze over her eyes as the variety of 73 differently styled little black tops obscured all logic and reason – she wanted them all.  She was saying that America was indeed a land of riches, wealth and choice.  Goods in hand, we moved onward to the next emporium.  She reveled in her shopping success and happily collapsed of exhaustion after a day well-shopped.

Following a bit of a reprieve, with her shoes off and nestled on the overstuffed sofa, my friend and I delved into the differences of shopping here versus there.  The sheer size and selection of what we have here was mind-boggling, overwhelming and awe-inspiring to her.  The sales racks were daunting to say the least.  Her comparisons of the shops and the shopping mentality in her small town in England to ours in the US brought a wide range of emotion to me.  On one hand there is pride that through hard work, perseverance and a bit of luck that the people of this country have made it possible for such extravagance and can be offered such a wide assortment and quantity of goods.  On the other hand, I harbor a slight embarrassment that we do have so much but know that within this country there is not an equal distribution of goods.  Our reputation precedes us abroad, through what the world sees on TV and movies and the interpretation of what the people in the US are like and what they have (or do not have), foreigners expect Americans to be a certain way. 

I never knew a shopping excursion could be such a learning possibility.  I guess it was a “stop and smell the roses” opportunity that doesn’t come knocking every day.  Even though I didn’t buy a single item that day, I came home with a bag full of goodies that I think I will appreciate much longer and will never have to return.

Cynthia A. McClelland, curious observer of the obvious with interpretations of the oddities of daily life.  Mother, wife and lover of the furry, resides in the north Lake Tahoe area.            

Cynthia A. McClelland © 2003-