Men And Shopping
When my mother and father shopped together (rarely) for anything other than food, it went like this: My father visited the men’s section or tool section or whatever. If (when) my mother ventured toward women’s clothing, shoes or accessories, he’d say, “Let’s go home now, Rose. I’m tired.” Some things never change. Dad was a wonderful man, and Mom and I joked about his little shopping trick. (He thought we fell for it every time). We always knew it was coming —could practically predict the precise moment. It was OK. Mom preferred to shop with her sister.
When my mother and father shopped together (rarely) for anything other than food, it went like this: My father visited the men’s section or tool section or whatever. If (when) my mother ventured toward women’s clothing, shoes or accessories, he’d say, “Let’s go home now, Rose. I’m tired.” Some things never change. Dad was a wonderful man, and Mom and I joked about his little shopping trick. (He thought we fell for it every time). We always knew it was coming —could practically predict the precise moment. It was OK. Mom preferred to shop with her sister.
Zack will order from a catalog if possible. He doesn’t worry about the price, because he doesn’t order often. It’s the speed of the transaction that draws him. See it. Want it. Buy it. Done. —All from the comfort of one’s own home. Then the item appears like magic one day with Dwayne (our UPS guy) or Sherry (our mail carrier). I’ve mentioned before that when we drive into “the big city” to shop, we always find time for the tobacconist, stores for tools, home improvement, sporting goods, tractor supplies, men’s clothing , the Army Navy Store, places that sells ammunition, or the men’s section of department stores in malls. Zack almost always has manly stops to make. Then suddenly he’s had enough, and my errands must wait. (See how that works? Just like my father. Rather endearing in a comic sort of way. And it’s OK. I prefer to shop alone or with my daughter. And there’s always eBay).
Whether shopping for a fine wool suit, a brisket, or an auto hammer, Zack can be in and out of a store faster than greased lightning. He usually knows what he wants, finds it, makes the purchase as quickly as possible and leaves. To me, this is anathema to the entire creative shopping experience. It leaves me highly unsatisfied, sort of a retail therapy interruptus. I want to cruise the entire store, discovering things I need (that I didn’t actually realize until I saw them), getting ideas for projects, comparing prices, ingredients and quality. It takes me infinitely longer to shop than it takes Zack. And I tend to spend more money in the long run. Even if Zack must choose a suit, try it on, and stand to have alterations noted, he will still be out in about 20 minutes. This man can look at a wall of suits, pick the only one or two he finds remotely acceptable, and leave with no regrets or remorse, never wondering if he should have looked for another cut or color.
My son Josh may be even worse than Zack. To avoid stores, he shops mainly on the Internet. To be fair, he has little time for shopping. He even looks on eBay (my new best friend). He hates to shop in “real stores.” But when he does, he needs help. He’s like a superhero suddenly rendered helpless and unsure. The fluorescent lights in the malls and stores hit him like kryptonite. He claims it’s something to do with astigmatism. I secretly believe it’s a handy excuse so he can whine until the shopping is finished. When Josh was small, I was the one to take him shopping, and a more excruciating experience I rarely had. As he grew older, his sister helped, and she is infinitely more adept at it than I am, has better fashion sense regarding trends for young folks, and more knowledge. After a certain point, neither of us has much patience with my son, so we move as quickly as possible. In shopping with Josh, as in so many areas of life, timing is truly everything. Now his long-suffering girlfriend Beverly often steps in, bless her heart. What a wonderful, wonderful girl.
I suppose that with shopping, as so many other areas of life, men really ARE different.
America Rages On…Why Can’t We Learn From Previous Mistakes?
America, the Beautiful ain’t so pretty any more. It took decades for us to get this way and it does NOT look like we will get back on-track any time soon. It is time for the American people to take back their nation from irresponsible and lackluster special interest-motivated elected officials. Replacing top members of the Obama administration and most legislative incumbents is in order.
America, the Beautiful ain’t so pretty any more.
It took decades for us to get this way and it does NOT look like we will get back on-track any time soon.
It is time for the American people to take back their nation from irresponsible and lackluster special interest-motivated elected officials. Replacing top members of the Obama administration and most legislative incumbents is in order.
We desperately need time limitations on leadership positions.
The majority of Americans should be unhappy with our nation’s growth and evolution — or, if you believe it — intelligent design.
Why can’t we learn from our previous mistakes?
It doesn’t matter if you are Republican, Democrat or Independent. It is of no importance whether you are wealthy, middle class or poor, religious or atheist. As Bob Dylan sang during the 1960’s, “You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.”
On the national, state and local levels, generations of Americans will have to struggle to change the last several decades of harm generated by wealthy special interests and the elected officials they have placed in their pockets.
Most Americans, individuals and families, are hurting — big time as the American economy still is failing the majority.
Immense greed and power have ensured that the lives of current and future generations have been placed on a back-burner. Our children’s children will continue to pay the price for our folly, which was to permit leaders to squelch or circumvent constitutional laws to gain more power and profits. The American people have been deceived and scammed. Here is a list of some of the ways:
* Starting a needless invasion and war with Iraq
* Determining to install a democratic nation of Iraq, without being requested to do so
* Sending our children soldiers on missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were ill-conceived and absurdly planned with no victory in sight
* Cutting taxes for the rich, while spending more than $3 trillion on war costs
* Determining many U.S. policies and actions behind “closed doors”
* Providing false and/or misleading information and intelligence to the American people
* Eliminating urgently needed social programs for children and poorer citizens
* Doing little to prevent the diminishing quality of public education
* Bailing-Out misguided and opportunistic corporations
* Increasing government intrusion into business affairs
* Permitting health care costs to increase despite curbing “frivolous” medical lawsuits
* Permitting astronomical costs of fossil fuel — gas, oil, electric — while avoiding real investment and progress into alternative fuel possibilities
* Removing oversight and limitations on escalating costs of tuition for higher education without improving learning skills
* Outsourcing millions of American jobs and services without providing new opportunities for American workers at home
* Lying to the people of New Orleans and not providing needed emergency financing and services during the Katrina fiasco in a timely manner
* Selling off American public lands and ports for special interest gains
* Permitting only special interests to bid (or not even having to bid) on lucrative service contracts
* Permitting the “sale” of American government to the highest special-interest contributors
* Privatizing Medicare programs recklessly and irresponsibly for special-interest gains
* Pushing to privatize Social Security for special-interest gains and withholding cost of living adjustments [COLA]
* Allowing the increase of voter fraud and lack of voting machine integrity (machines manufactured by special-interest campaign contributors)
* Cutting financing for public education during the past decade and diverting those tax dollars to other interests
* Permitting our infrastructures to decay and become unsafe
* Promoting toll road plans to generate more profits for foreign and domestic special interests
* Freezing and/or diverting gas taxes, which are supposed to be used to build and maintain roads
* Providing lax or no enforcement of immigration laws and policies
* Permitting the corporate sector to remain under capitalism during good times, while enabling socialism during tougher economic times
* Allowing the large number of layoffs without providing companies with incentives for keeping American employees and/or developing alternative jobs
* Continuing to increase America’s debt via wars, tax increases, aid to other nations and corporate bail-outs while doing little for citizens
* Permitting illegal U.S. government spying and wiretapping on private citizens.
The list goes on. These are criminal, reckless and irresponsible actions perpetrated by U.S. elected officials against the American people.
For eight years there was a Connecticut “cowboy” in the White House who needed to be “lassoed and reined-in.” Currently, the Obama administration also is failing American citizens. It seems to be doing so unabashed and without a conscience.
Why can’t we learn from our previous mistakes?
It is time for the American people to take back their nation from irresponsible and lackluster special interest-motivated elected officials. We must demand change of administration members, policy, objectives and actions.
It is time to create stronger campaign finance laws with enforcement capabilities that tell billion-dollar corporations they no longer can purchase “the best government money can buy.”
The U.S. has become a rogue nation, distrusted by the world and by many of its own citizens.
We should have learned by now that U.S. leaders have run amok and cannot be trusted. They should not be permitted to continue managing our nation as if they are religious zealots and blatant imperialists. The U.S. must return to being the nation of, by and foremost for American citizens.
We need to get our nation back on-track. Why can’t we learn from our previous mistakes?
(Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.)
