Mallapalooza

The constant shift between hot and cold as I change from the blazing-hot outside to the cool-conditioned inside, it was terrible. Imagine the hottest summer possible, with blazing winds and raining fires, and then suddenly, the winds disappear and frost appears with the icicle-spears rising from the ground. It was a "heated" battle : the shopping mall and I. She fought hard, tugging at me with all her products, but I prevailed and managed to save myself a boat-load of money. Oh, great giant, at the hearth of materialism and consumerism! Its chambers filled with jackets, scarves, polos, and the list goes on! Does an individual truly own something if it lets the items dominate him or her? "What color, what size, what design! But, wait! What about the prices? Will this fit me? It seems as if the items are wearing the owners, but ha, that's silly. Buy whatever you need, all of our items are on sale! Sale, let's look around." Pity, the trap that lies at every consumerist battleground, but that doesn't mean its necessarily "bad". 

Indeed, I fell for the trap. For me, clothes are a representation, they speak a message. This is very disappointing, but it lies close to the truth. With different styles, the people that an individual associates himself or herself with differs. This is not an opinion, but rather a judgement of a trend. Although, this may not apply for every case. With that in mind, I noticed that my dressing manners have changed over the years, and so have my friends. Although, correlation does not result in causation. An interesting hypothesis, but I'll have to prove it with a relationship on a graph. Of course, there are disadvantages to shopping, and I can see the advantage of not caring how to dress: it feels free. However, for me, shopping is a period of time where I can freely think. As I walk around looking for clothes, I spend my time thinking of anything - it ranges from programming, philosophy, and science to reflection and introspection. For some strange reason, I don't have to think about shopping itself, it's an impulse when I find something I like. My chain of thought usually breaks when I have to think about prices, but other than that, I don't spend much time thinking of the actual clothes. I often find myself doing this in other situations, usually public transportation (especially the bus). However, shopping itself can be thought of as "fun". Many of my friends agree that looking at things that they're probably not going to buy is meaningless (I agree), but it's the social experience of the entire ordeal that's really worth it. I don't shop alone, I usually do so with friends, lots of them. Just by skipping around and scoffing at funny clothes makes my day. I'm a simple male, the small things make me cheery. Of course, consumerism and materialism are a problem in society, people are constricted by the clothes they wear. Buying a numerous amount of clothes to impress people is apparently on the top of the "list", but I don't let that strike me. Is it really just the clothes that make the impression? For me, it's not the clothes that make an impression, it's the person that makes the impression. The clothes are suppose to be an addition of a person, a prelude representation of him or her (not always). By having that addition, it makes it easier to make that impression, but that doesn't mean that an individual should limit it just to the clothes nor let it be the impression. Let the clothes be an "addition". The act of shopping can be boring, but it depends on the interests of the shopper. Does he or she want to dress a certain way? If not, then shopping is terribly boring. I can't really explain the joy of shopping, but I can relate it to the bliss of watching the sun set. It's slow and boring and you know the ending, but you can't help but keep looking. Not the greatest of analogies, it's actually inaccurate. I'm not the best when it comes to justifying shopping, eh.