The strangeness that was today started after church when I found myself walking laps backwards in the narthex. No, I didn't do that for exercise. I did that in response to a woman who took a step toward me with each sentence causing me to answer with a step backwards.
After church we drove on very crowded roads to a very crowded mall to get clothes for my darling daughter. She's going to a college for a summer study program for a few weeks and needs some new duds. She'll have a great time and study literature and art, too. We're very proud of her for being accepted.
Back to the mall. Too many people on the roads. Too many people in the parking lot. Too many people in the stores buying too many things that they don't need. I sat on a bench while waiting for my daughter to try on some clothes. Within seconds, there were two families worth of children climbing on me. Not next to me but ON me. Is this necessary? Was buying two pairs of jeans and swim shorts for my daughter worth all this? I vote no.
At Steve and Barry's I saw Sarah Jessica Parker's new clothing line, Bitten. Do I really need a dress for $12.99? Agreed, it's not a bad price but do I need another dress? How many dresses do those women in China or wherever have to make in order to make $12.99? It just seems pointless.
After we made our planned purchases, my husband asked if I needed anything else. "I need to get away from these people," I replied. "Which people?" he asked. "ALL OF THEM!" was my final answer.
Now that I'm back home, I plan to sit on the front porch and look at nothing and drink a glass of wine and simply breathe. And plan a hike for tomorrow. Being alone in the woods is the antidote to the ridiculousness of today.
Fair reader, it is now for you to decide. Was today's experience was an epiphany of a sort, possibly leading me away from the consumer culture and toward a simpler and more meaningful existence? OR am I just having a nervous breakdown?
Comments are welcome and appreciated.
2 comments:
I am right there with you about the over-crowding of people! A trip to the mall for me is the idea of a nightmare. I have just never been that interested in large crowds, crowded shopping areas, etc. To this day I try to limit my errands to one day a week, usually Thursday, because it seems to be a relatively crowd-free day.
I think a lot of it is just basic personality and temperament. I was reading a book about a year ago about temperaments we are born with. It said that some people are just born with an introvert or an extrovert temperament. Those who have the introvert trait draw their energy from spending time alone, regrouping with quiet and solitude. Those with an extorvert temperament actually NEED the closeness of people to re-energize! That is eye-opening!
I vote for Epiphany - I detest crowds too. Although I have to admit that jumping children might cause me to do some jumping of my own. Parents of said children would definitely think I was having a nervous breakdown, but in turn that might cause them to have an epiphany. Some Ritalin coated candy might help in the future. Just in case.
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