2005-01-18 - Neurotic, much?:

I am kind of a crappy shopper. My female friends will attest to this. My male friends will not know what they are taking about.

(Aside: why has shopping developed into something so gendered? We all need goods and services, to a certain extent, and to varying degrees. What the hell?)

Anyway. I have three ways of shopping:

1) Necessity. I have a pair of shoes. They wear out. I keep wearing them, and parts start to fall off. Okay, now I just plain need shoes. I go to a store on a mission: I need a pair of shoes. I look around, find a shoe that I like, try it on, buy it, the end. Leave store within half an hour of arriving.

2) Impulse. I don't really impulse shop very often anymore. But when I do, it is usually something pretty cheap. Ooh! A chocolate bar shaped like Spongebob Squarepants! Sold!

3) The hyper-planning shop. This usually happens by accident. I go to a store either because I am buying a gift for a friend, or because a friend dragged me in to look at something. So, I browse. I don't browse very often, usually only in bookstores. Anyway, in my browsing, I spot something I think would be cool to have. A nice shirt, a cool poster, whatever. It's not something I need but it's something I want. I look at the object. I think about it. I leave the store without purchasing it, but think about the item, imagine myself using it, wondering if I would really use it that often, etc. After about two weeks of mulling it over with unecissary scrutiny, I go back to buy the item I've been thinking about all this time.

With this last method, one of two things usually ends up happening: either the item is in stock, and I buy it, and that is the end. Or, the item is no longer in stock or not the right size or colour or what have you, and I get annoyed with myself for being so anal and planny and go home irritated because I waited too long and probably won't find another item exactly like the one I have been hyper-obsessing about.

I know, I am kind of a random person. I blame my inability to accept change in the mundane. Big changes? Totally awesome. But if I can no longer find my preffered brand of socks? Holy crap, look out!