I'm Not Crazy, I'm Shopping

I blame it on sales. Somewhere some store is having a sale right now. What you want can probably be found in several stores, but only one will have the price that you will triumphantly tell friends and family about. "I bought this mint condition yacht for $4!"

Finding the perfect item on a ridiculously good sale and then having the beloved last for years beyond expectations is the reason that we drive ourselves to the brink of madness trying to decide if we should buy a second one. And then there's the question of gifts. And if you do this, should you also buy a second for yourself? "And so I bought a second yacht in red. I got you one in purple."

If you live with someone else then you may be taking their preferences into consideration. You start to question what your loved one would really like. "I think the yellow yacht makes me look hot, but the blue yacht matches my eyes. Did he say he preferred speed boats?"

Counting on over purchasing now to be safe and returning later is just asking for it. The receipt will get lost. It does not matter if you kept in the the bag or your wallet. The only receipt that you will be able to find is the one for the mojitos you had after your shopping frenzy. "Maybe I really did want 2 yachts and a speedboat."

This brings us to commitment. Maybe you do not want your conquest to last forever. You may want to change your mind sometime in the next 5 years. Donating may now be your only hope. "This year's speedboat comes with an apple corer! What? Goodwill won't pick up a yacht or a speedboat from my home?"

Insanity guaranteed. Pity the people that surround such a shopper. They are subjected to hours of conversation that they must not engage in under penalty of death. Noncommittal supportive grunts are all you can offer. Some blessed souls recognize the mania that sets in after their loved one has spent hours searching the internet, calling stores & driving to stores. You: "I can save $.50 buying it on Speedboats.com but I get the apple corer if I buy it from the store." Loved One: "Dearheart, you can have both the $.50 savings and the apple corer if we buy it from the store that's in the next state. Let's go."

My husband is one of those loved ones. No worries, we did not actually leave Texas. We did go to a different county. Today we drove to 3 different locations of the same store, I spent 2 hours searching online, and I also called 5 other locations.

Today we bought dishes. The sale was so good that I also bought a digital crockpot. I'm still not sure why Karl so supportively helped me find these dishes. One store was willing to hold a 4 piece place setting for me, the other store would not hold anything on clearance. Apparently because I am a girl, or because I don't do dishes, I need 8 place settings for just the two of us. It is very possible that my husband saw the signs of long term mania set in and decided that driving to 3 stores and crossing county lines was a worthwhile use of his day off. Love One: "Let's buy all of the speedboats!"

But maybe, just maybe, he also fell in love with the delicate blue bird pattern with cherry blossoms and a lovely pale blue rim. Hey! Is he using one of the soup bowls as a coaster?