What does shopping mean to you? A test of nerves? A physical and mental exercise? Something you do because you have to do it? Or is it something you do when you want to unwind, relax and maybe reward yourself? Well, for me shopping has always been a way to reward myself; something I do to distract myself from the dull and monotonous routine and of course like anyone else I can’t escape it since one must shop in order to get the basic necessities like groceries, clothing etc. So every time I walk in a shop I want to be treated as the person who is there to be rewarded…”c’mon show me all you have got” is my attitude and nothing short of that would turn this shopping experience into a gratifying one. I want a lot of options in front of me before I finally decide what I want to buy especially if I am shopping for clothes, shoes and accessories.Well, honestly speaking most of the time the shopping experience leads me frustrated and tired mainly because the expectations are too high and the returns too low!!
I am going to share with you the reason for my frustrations and tell me if you can relate to any of it. When I enter into a shop there is hardly a shopkeeper who has the expressions and the body language that says “wow a valued customer, I am all ears”, the reaction is more of, “Oh my God time to wake up from my slumber, better get rid of her as soon as I can!”.. Resultantly the shop turns into a war zone for the few minutes that I am there, the shopkeeper will try every trick in the book to ensure that I leave as early as possible; from not showing the right sizes to taking too long to understand what I want. Does that make any sense? I am there to spend my precious finances and this man just could not care less because he will get paid at the end of the month whether I buy something from his shop or not. Now that is the attitude that makes my mind wander from shopping to politics…yes you heard it right politics! Why are honesty and hard work not part of our political culture? There is corruption everywhere; even this salesman is actually corrupt when he refuses to deal with his customers properly. Why are we so lazy etc etc!! So much for shopping now eh! So when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I am not the one to give up, I decide to deal with these dishonest, lazy and irresponsible people in the way they deserve to be dealt with and by the time I get back home, I have almost forgotten that I went out to relax and reward myself and it seems more like “I just spent my money and brought myself a few things but I don’t feel happy!!” But the optimist that I am even next time I will go out shopping with the same high expectations and a smile on my face and probably return exhausted and disappointed. This happens particularly in sales when there are so many salesmen on the floor but all of them pretend like they are hard of hearing.
So, How many of you have faced these “hardships” while shopping? What are your expectations when you go out for shopping? Please share your thoughts.
Ayesha Ahmed.