Shopping has long been considered one of the most pleasant and fulfilling experiences. Be it buying groceries or objects of desire, there is a unique pleasure in visiting shops. For women, shopping gives them relief from the mental tension associated with daily chores. But I beg to differ.
Though I often accompany my other half to the supermarket and jewellery shop, I feel out of place once I step in to the shops. At the supermarket, my job is to stand behind her and push the shopping cart while she leisurely picks up packets of foreign cheese and honey marketed by Patanjali.
Though we returned from another country a few years ago after spending nearly quarter of a century there, the shopping pattern has not changed much. Extra virgin olive oil made in Spain, Anchor cheese and American apples! If my better half wants to spend more than five minutes in selecting an item, I happily tell her, “Take your own time. Give me a missed call when you finish selecting your objects of desire.”
This is the time for me to roam around the supermarket. I go to the vegetable section and read the price of a kilogramme of potato and onion only to forget it within minutes. After that I go to the organic food section. Till date I have not found more than two customers buying from this counter. Then, I take a glass of payasam offered free of cost by the young girl who is there to promote the item.
I say hello to the girl standing outside the perfume shop with a bottle of a new scent that she is desperately trying to sell. After spending more than 30 minutes at various sections in the supermarket without buying anything, I usually get the missed call from my wife. She would be near the cash counter with her shopping cart fully loaded. I once again check my wallet to confirm that there is enough cash.
I pay the money to the cashier and push the cart all the way to the car. Accompanying my life partner to the jewellery shop is not pleasant either. When I enter the shop I feel trapped. When you go to a barber shop, there are magazines to read while you wait for your turn. If it is a dental clinic, there are old issues of popular magazines and other promotional materials from pharmaceutical companies.
But in jewellery shops, I have never found any reading material for the customers. My problem: How to spend time while my partner shops for a gold chain? When I try to go for a coffee at a nearby shop, she tells: “Wait, only ten minutes more.” I still accompany my wife for shopping and pay all the bills as I have for many years. Life is like that.