Online Shopping: Reflections From The Kitchen Sink
Online Shopping vs. Store Shopping
With yet another chain store closing its physical doors (Lifeway, if you haven’t heard), I have such mixed emotions. You folks know me now, so you know I’m not a tech queen. I do my share of online shopping though. I live in a rural area. My kids and I aren’t average sizes, so we often can’t find clothing long enough in stores. However…and that’s a big HOWEVER…some of my fondest memories and fun experiences are from shopping.
Even when nothing was purchased, some shopping adventures gifted me with bonding moments with family and friends. Catalog shopping when I was a kid was for the extras not available in every Sears or J.C.Penney, but even turning those pages in the 500 page catalogs was a family fun night. We are becoming more and more sucked into speeding through life to get to moments of what ends up often being shallow, empty time.
When Michael and I first married, our first Christmas was certainly an adventure. I’d married a man with a two-year old, so there was instantly a sense of excitement to that year’s shopping. We also had the chore of helping each other shop for family members we didn’t really know. Our courtship had been a quick one, and we married mid-October. Those things certainly didn’t lend themselves to good purchasing insight. Michael and I were also living on slim pickins, as the elders would call it. He and I decided the outlet mall in a nearby town was going to be the answer to our quandary. More than anything, it was a full day of laughter and true joy moving from store to store finding things we hoped folks would enjoy. We spent a little more than we intended, but the gifts were still small. Each one though had time and thought attached to it.
Mall Shopping
That day reminded me of days my mom and I spent at the Bowling Green Mall—the old one that had the movie theatre and TG&Y in it. Mom and I would sometimes walk there and spend hours just milling about. When we got hungry, we would have a special little snack at a sweet little sandwich shop inside one of the stores. We would always look at the new China and crystal patterns. I never told mom I didn’t see much difference between some of those designs. That was her thing, and she was usually patient enough to let me flip through the 45s at Big K on the other end of the mall. One day, she even bought me a sea monkey zoo at TG&Y. I was elated…and I’m drifting…you know how I am sometimes. My point is shopping online doesn’t give you those giggles, the smells, the sights. Click. Click. Purchase. Dud. Hope the purchased product is what the photo looks like.
Convenience doesn’t outweigh people and the sensory oomphs of spending time with others though. I could spin several comments just on customer service and the loss our society has experienced by not having trained staff to assist in the shopping efforts in most stores, but that’s not the message of this little sink moment. I will file that thought for another day.
The sun is up, and the birds are singing. Spring is truly at my backdoor today. Ironically, I have to purchase my younger son some pants, and that purchase will have to be online because he’s just too tall for most stores. Against my heart’s desire, I will be adding to the push against shopping centers in some way today. Our trips to the mall are more for the orange chicken in the food court than they are for actual shopping. I’m afraid one day even that experience will be taken away. Maybe one of my boys will write about the world way back when, too, when he’s in phase two of life.
Online Shopping
It doesn’t seem like that long ago that I would be in tow with my granny or mom, but those days are further back than I want to really think about. My boys don’t know of times like those, and pictures and words can’t capture them adequately. I guess it’s another part of aging and time just changing things. Another one of those nostalgic moments just for me and those of you who experienced similar ones to daydream about. I think I will window shop around the square in my mind one more time from my sink with my second cup of coffee.
Until next time…
Melinda Campbell is a retired educator who currently focuses her efforts on raising her two teenaged boys, advocating for individuals with special needs and against drunk driving, and serving in her local community. Melinda has been gaining recognition for her writings labeled “Reflections from my Kitchen Sink” since the tragic death of her husband Michael in 2015. In her stories, she shares observations from her daily life including moments she has as a solo parent, a widow, and a woman who battles significant health issues including fibromyalgia and depression. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT- New Kitchen Sink Merchandise-Click Here?
