Today was an interesting day: I went to a local mall for the first time since moving to this part of Texas almost two years ago. It's not as if I've banned the mall...for one thing, the closest malls are probably 30 minutes from our house, so I'd have to make a choice to go - and that just hasn't happened. Oh, I go to the grocery store and other places, but not the mall. For whatever reason, I do most of my clothes shopping online. Also, the malls in this area are huge and I just don't have the yen to wander around such a huge place without a purpose (didn't do it much in my teenage years, either!). And I've also been on this journey to fight "stuff."
My trip today was actually for work reasons - laugh if you want, but it's true! I was there to pick up a recognition gift...and it should tell you something that I called ahead so that it would be ready when I arrived. So ten minutes after I arrived at the mall, I was walking out of the store, mission accomplished. But while I was there....
I went to a clothing store. Granted, it was a clothing chain I worked for during a period in graduate school. And my excuse was that while I had a few minutes, I'd see if they had anything in my husband's size. There I am, browsing the sale racks, and I've got a few items in my hands: a pair of pants for $10.97, a t-shirt for $4.99, and two pairs of socks for $1.99 each. Me = hardly a big spender. At least, though, I would have helped the cashier boost their per-sale item count - from my days at this store, I remembered that management preferred an average item count of 3 or higher.
The thing is, I wasn't sure that my husband would like the color of the pants. We have this deal: when I buy him clothing, he gets to say "no" to any item without repurcussion. I'll return it, no questions asked. So this idea that he might not like the color of the pants meant that if he didn't like them, I'd be making another trip to the mall to return them. But I was telling myself that $10.97 was a deal, and couldn't he wear them for yard work even if he didn't like the color? At some point, I realized that it was ridiculous, this dilemma of the pants. If there was a question, then I shouldn't get them. Which also meant that the other items were put back, too, because once I said "no" to one item it was all downhill from there!
Walking out of the mall, it was a little overwhelming to see all the things for sale, and how little I wanted any of it. And that's how I simplified this week: I said "no" to more stuff.
For what it's worth, my husband said he probably wouldn't have liked the color of those pants...
