Areas of Unrest

QOTD: "What sort of philosophers are we, who know absolutely nothing about the origin and destiny of cats?" - Henry David Thoreau

Reading: still not up to anything more than short stories

Listening to: nothing

Decluttering accomplishments: oh, okay, I'll throw out a piece of paper. Happy?

16 May 2002 - Scenes From a Mall

I think I've figured out why I no longer enjoy most shopping. Namely, none of my friends in L.A. are suitable shopping companions. With the right sort of shopping buddy, it doesn't matter if you don't see anything you'd consider buying. But when you're shopping alone, it's simply frustrating not to find what you're looking for.

It's not like I'm looking for anything that should be all that difficult. My beloved Rockport wedges, the shoes that I wear at least three days a week to work, are close to falling apart. I had two pairs and one pair already bit the dust. So it's time to go get a couple of new pairs to wear for the next four or five years. Except that none of the stores in the Westside Pavilion have them. I could have bought them at the Mall of America last weekend, but then I'd have had to schlep them home. Surely there must be a Rockport store somewhere in Los Angeles? I wish I could remember where I got them last time. Well, I know where I got one pair, but that was in New York, so is of no use.

While looking at every shoe store in the mall, I did see a few cute pairs of shoes. Some were of the "cute but no way in hell could I wear them" variety. Being able to walk comfortably is simply too important to me. But there were a couple of pairs (made by Arche) at Nordstrom's that looked reasonably comfortable. The only catch was that one style came only in red or black and the other only in purple. I loved the purple ones, but I have nothing to wear them with. And, since these are 200 dollar shoes, they're not quite an impulse buy. What I really need are classic rope sole espadrilles in a peach or spring green. But there does not appear to be an espadrille for sale in the whole bloody county right now. I know that by going to one mall because I've been looking for these espadrilles for two years now, ever since I bought the dress that needs them.

I also need a new pocketbook. There was something more or less acceptable at one store, but it's a different brand than I normally buy and so I held off, fearing that it might not hold up as well. I may go back if I can't find anything better, particularly since this isn't really an urgent problem. What I want is what I have right now, but in a different color because navy blue is just too boring for a pocketbook. The possible one is blue plaid, which is still kind of boring.

And then there's my quest for a jacket. I have a great pair of black lace pants. What I don't have is a great top to wear with them. But I figured out I can wear my favorite solid black t-shirt, as long as I wear a lightweight jacket too. I have a red blazer that's sort of okay with that. But it isn't perfect and I really want something purple, for reasons I can't venture to explain even to myself. There was not a single suitable jacket for sale anywhere in the mall in any color other than black or red. I haven't lived in New York in over 25 years so I'll be damned if I'm going to dress in solid black for anything other than a funeral. And I already have a red jacket.

I didn't do any better at the bookstores that are usually my solace. I need a new journal. It isn't horribly urgent, particularly since the thing I need to replace is the journal I write about movies and plays and concerts in and I'm more or less through the most recent movie binge. But I want a journal that is precisely the same size as the others and isn't spiral bound. In this case, at least I know at least three stores that carry exactly what I want. Of course, none of them is in the Westside Pavillion.

If it weren't for the supermarket in the basement, I'd have gone home empty-handed. And even that had its frustrations. I did manage to buy cereal. But the other thing I wanted to pick up was a bottle or two of sparkling water. Arrowhead Sparkling Mineral Water with Mandarin Orange Essence, to be precise. They had lemon. They had lime. They had plain. They even had the dreaded mixed berry flavor. But not a bottle of orange in sight.

Some days it's hard to be a consumer.