An article in a glossy magazine yesterday struck a chord with me. 23 year old Tina is a reformed shopping addict. She ended up with 10 credit and store cards, maxed them all out and ended up owing £50,000. That is a lot of dough... It's scary how readily available 'monopoly' money is these days. If you can’t afford something you can just get it bought on plastic until the card melts under the pressure.
I think it’s down to how our identity is formed in our current society. It seems to be a consumer-driven world and it is down to the style and cost of things that you consume which defines you. Why do you think kids refuse to take a Tesco’s carrier bag to school carrying their P.E kit because it’s embarrassing? It is important where you buy your sofa, which beauty products you use, the car you drive. I know this has always been an issue even fifty years ago because it defined your wealth and class, but now it seems to shape everyone and every part of a person. And now, everybody can have a slice of that bulging pie of greedy hogginess.
I hasten to add that I don’t exclude myself from this ‘mass analysis’. I love spending money. I could literally feel the adrenaline pumping through my hungry veins the day my bursary went into my bank account. My brain scrambled thinking of what I could buy after months of being a wee bit on the poor side. The university had given me £500, I could rule the world! So I bought soaps. As you may have figured out from previous blogging action, I love soaps! I didn’t overdo it though; there was a sale in boots on my favourite range. One third off! How can a girl resist? I also had a £5 voucher for the No* 7 range so obviously that was burning a hole in my pocket so it went towards a beautiful new moisturiser. I’m aware that in my last blog which spoke about my uncontrollable urge to buy smelly things that I stated I had gotten over my obsession. I’m obviously in denial (as an addictions counsellor would tell me through her patronising glare). But you know what, I don’t care. Yes it does worry me that I can identify with what young Tina was saying in her report and I knew what she meant when she spoke about counting down the minutes after work so she could run to the shops and buy something and the feeling of emptiness as she walked home with no shopping bags. I feel the same. The only difference is, is that I don’t feel like I want to sign up for credit cards and spend all of that imaginary money. She was buying Gucci cocktail dresses (although she had no fancy parties to go to) and shoes which cost up to £500. This, I would never do as a girl who loves nothing more than flaunting her student discount card in Peacocks on a Saturday afternoon for a 20% discount on clothes that are already cheap enough. Maybe I have a small-scale addiction, but it is something I feel is under control and after all, I do use the things I buy. Unlike Tina who never touched her glamorous purchases. Does it sound like I’m trying to convince you or myself here?
Anyway on that note, I’m off to scrub and spritz myself because I can because I have a cabinet full of new shiny bottles!
Ta for now!
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