"These happy golden years are passing by, these happy golden years." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Friday, August 11, 2006

Window Shopping


I just love that term ... Window Shopping! Growing up without a lot of extra funds, I was a pro at window shopping. I'd love to go to the open-air malls all bundled up with boots, scarf, gloves and a coat. Peeking inside the stores with their artfully arranged window displays to attract customers, and the rush of warm air against the body once you finally made the decision to venture inside. Certain stores had their own scent. For example ... the Sears store at one time sold popcorn and candy. The May Company store had a great perfume counter and a girl could get lost just smelling the bottles, squirting on a scent, and even asking for some free samples. Trying on jewelry was another favorite past time. I had no money or intention of buying ... just trying! Nine times out of ten, I may have only bought the popcorn ... but it was fun to experience the newness of everything. About twice a years my mom would take me "real" clothes shopping. This was usually in the spring and fall. Oh, the thrill of buying new school clothes ... even if it meant we had to buy the clothes that cost less down in the basement! Even the whole lay-a-way procedure and the having to wait for six weeks until we had paid off the balance to retrieve the clothes was a lesson in patience.

The window shopping gene seemed to have skipped my youngest daughter; she was impossible to shop with because she just expected to come away from an outing at the mall with something ... even if she could not find what she was after, the thought of leaving without buying was a long hard process for her to learn. After a few years of me refusing to take her shopping with me, she finally had success and was able to walk out of the mall without a purchase. You could say that window shopping was torture to her :)

Now with shopping on line and having price comparisons available, one has another choice in window shopping. Beside, shopping with Nathan is VERY TRYING.

Back to window shopping ... I'm doing some "real" window shopping today ... that is literally shopping for windows today ... for the new home. Catch you later.

2 comments:

Pat said...

I used to love to window shop, but I have to admit, I'm slowing down. If I didn't work full time, I'd probably pursue it with more gusto. When I was a child, my mother and I used to go to the Broadway every Saturday, have lunch, watch the fashion show and browse. As I recall, we seldom bought any thing. It's still one of my fondest memories.

Tonya said...

I like to window shop, but I am a lot like your youngest daughter, and use to have a hard time with the thought of leaving the store and not actually buying anything.