Ordinarily, going shopping can be a pleasant experience.
If you regularly go to the same local shopping centre, as I do, you get to know some of the staff, who greet you with a friendly smile when you arrive.
Then there’s the mingling in close proximity and interaction with your fellow residents in whatever suburb you live in.
And of course the big one, buying things, and who doesn’t get a little happier buying new things, even if some of them are lemons or curry powder.
I still remember as a kid watching mum place the paper bags containing her groceries on the kitchen bench and hurrying her up to bring out the goodies.
And even though most of it was boring stuff, there was from time to time a bag of lollies or a bar of chocolate to put a smile on my face.
So that’s the shopping I remember, as well as how polite everyone was.
And patient – they were all marvellously patient.
So what happened to that ridiculous pleasure we derived from shopping, whether we were kids or adults?
Well, Virginia, the world has changed, that’s what happened.
From the moment you arrive at the shopping centre car park you notice how everyone is in a bloody hurry – it seems nowdays patience has been outlawed.
I won’t say that shopping is without any redeeming qualities – it gets you out of the house to start with.
And I don’t know what gets your goat when you go shopping, but here’s my Top 5 shopping turnoffs:
Number 1. People who reverse into a car parking spot even though they don’t have to.
Number 2. People who must handle every bit of fruit or vegetable before buying – sometimes just walking away without making a purchase.
Number 3. Shoppers who place their chemicals a centimetre away from your dairy purchases on the checkout counter.
Number 4. People who leave their shopping trolley right in the middle of the aisle.
Number 5. People who still go shopping without any bags so their purchases go back on the trolley after being scanned. They are probably the same ones who never return a trolley to the trolley bay 10m from their vehicle.
People who keep ramming me with their trolleys because I’m not moving fast enough
People who block the aisle while they have a conversation with a friend they’ve bumped into
And so many more….
Number 6. The rowdy music over the loudspeakers everywhere you go, which cripples the thought processes and make you lose concentration on what you’re buying or searching the shelves for.
They used to call it “background” music but now it’s always “in your face” music!