Lisa Laird, 632 words
Lisa's Lair
By Lisa Laird
IPS Features
Meet Dee
Purchaser
She drags herself out of bed each morning for the long day ahead. The workweek consists of six, seven, sometimes eleven days in a row, before a long awaited respite. Although her husband earns a good living and the mortgage on the home has been paid off years ago, she must work like a crazy dog. After all, there’s a habit to support: INTENSIVE SHOPPING.
Meet Dee Purchaser, the woman addicted to the local
mall. And the not so local ones,
too. Every evening after work she
goes shopping. Her few and
infrequent days off are spent spending, as well.
She confidently exits department stores clenching numerous packages
containing wide varieties of items, however, all merchandise is not created
equal; clothing and accessories belong to the favored clique.
And they’re spoiled rotten.
As far back as I can recall, Ms. Dee Purchaser has been
excessively compelled to spend money to a degree that is way over her head.
Shopping sprees are commonplace and she’ll compulsively buy garments
almost any worthy place. The
exquisite “must have” beaded gown she impulsively bought would indeed be
perfect to wear at a top-notch wedding; getting an invite to one should only be
as simple. Even without a cordial invitation to some classy affair,
charging five hundred dollars on her credit card was a well-deserved treat she
rewarded herself with after satisfying the previous hundred-dollar balance in
full.
When choosing gifts for family and friends, D. Purchaser
does so thoroughly and with precision. Whereas
the average person would be fit to be tied, she easily spends several hours
examining seemingly identical belt racks or a few shelves of standard picture
frames. No detail is too small to
be scrutinized; her right eye moonlights as a well-trained magnifying glass
while the left one searches for perceived character flaws.
And she’ll whimsically purchase not only three or four pairs of shoes
for herself, but also, a few pairs for her grown daughters…well, just because
she’s no high heel.
D. P.’s bedroom closets are filled solely with shoes
(how appropriate) and matching handbags, as one cannot fox-trot without a
partner. All her clothing live in
the finished basement; each article waits its turn to greet society.
Room is becoming scarce, as the selection grows faster than soon to be
stubble on freshly shaven legs. She
never bids farewell to has-been pieces of apparel; they collectively welcome the
newborn fashions upon arrival. Some
garments may never be worn, as they remain month after month, year after year,
securely attached to their price tags, maintaining their youth by avoiding
wrinkles. The woman knows she’s out of control and often vows to
begin and adhere to a balanced diet. However,
the foolishly constructed frenzy remains generously overfed.
Compulsive shoppers are not given the consideration and
attempted intervention that other brands of addicts are.
Most everyone shops; the frequency, duration, and monetary amounts are
the factors that vary. At a quick
glance, it is not clearly visible to see the difference between the shopaholics
and the well-seasoned, walking, talking, fashion statements.
Only through further examination can we identify and label who’s who.
When out of control spending is the detrimental result
of habitual shopping sprees, we must recognize the reason(s) for such senseless
behavior. If the objective is
mainly to fill a void in one’s life, then red flags are frantically flying at
full mast every which way. The
shopping itself cannot be honestly enjoyable when it holds the power that causes
individuals to become workaholics assigned to serve their material masters.
With much needed vacation time accruing, Dee Purchaser is looking forward
to traveling the world. There’s only one major problem besides figuring out how to
pay for her dream vacation.
She has nothing to wear.
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