I recently had a conversation with someone about why certain people love to shop whereas other people despise it. Quite honestly, I just don’t understand why some people hate it- it’s beyond my realm of understanding as I’ve been a lover of shopping for as long as I can remember. I remember moving out of home to go to school and living in a University dorm for the first time in my life. I had freedom and friends living next door… Life was pretty good. It was so good that I didn’t think it was necessary or fair that I ever left my little social work to go something as boring as a job… So I didn’t. But that didn’t stop me from spending like I did. I remember, vividly, going to IKEA with a group of friends knwoging I couldn’t really afford to buy anything and coming home to my dorm room with palm trees, mosquito nets, new sheets… I was young, stupid, but never out of love with shopping.
I’ve been thinking about it alot though lately as I prepare to stop receiving a paycheque regularly for awhile. Why do people shop? What are they looking for? Is it really that people just always need stuff? I think I may have come up with something. It’s a reason as to why I like it so much, and perhaps why it is so many people like it so much… I shop for the thrill of the hunt.
What exactly is the hunt? What am I hunting for? Sometimes it’s a specific item- but more often than not it’s nothing in particular. It’s the possibility of finding something spectacular at a steal of a deal. Or finding that elusive item that you’ve been coveting for years. Or just finding something that makes you happy.
Here’s an example of a hunt- I’ve been in search for the perfect cable knit white cardigan sweater (button up, hits right at the hip bones, doesn’t pop open in the chest area and hugs curves in all the right places) since I saw a woman in a GAP ad wearing that sweater about 10 years ago. I’ve been on the hunt… For a decade… For a perfect sweater. I’ve come across some pretty close matches (one had 3/4 sleeves which I thought I could live with but couldn’t. Another was a material that popped at all of the buttons) but I’ve not yet found it. So while I’m no longer obsessive about tracking it down, I defeinitely am always on the look out for it.
Then there is the ultimate in the hunt- vintage shopping. You absolutely can’t go into a vintage store with a list of something you’re specifically looking for unless it’s something generic like “a dress”. Some of my absolute favorite things that I’ve ever acquired have been found in vintage or thrift stores… A vintage Dior bag from the 40′s, 3 brand new Theory dresses with price tags still attached for $5/each… And the list could go on. It’s not specifically about the thing though, it’s about the hunt of finding these amazing items from deep within a store piled with otherwise generally useless garbage.
So as I now prepare to go off on maternity leave, it’s definitely going to be harder for me to shop. I’m not going to be able to take off in the afternoon on a weekend and jaunt over to the mall to wander around (or not at least without a carload full of baby equipment), and I’m not going to be able to spend evenings after work when Mr. Roccapuccia is out of town hunting for new finds as my local vintage shops. I’m going to have to find my fun in other ways. But don’t worry, no matter what happens, I’ll still always be a hunter.
