Shopping – A relaxation technique or torture by quicksand?
Shopping is a relaxation technique for women but what about men?
Suhas Kumar is an IT employee with one big bugbear: “I hate shopping!” he declares, “but I am forced to accompany my wife because she goes to the mall alone. I’m sure she’ll pick up everything she sees,” he adds with a grumble.
The mere sight of shopping bags is enough to give a man a mini-heart attack. On the other hand, shopping is an integral part of any woman’s life: it is how she de-stresses and relaxes. But for men, the experience of accompanying women on a shopping spree is like being dunked in and out of a whirlpool. Chills run down their spine when they hear the dreaded SH-word come from their woman’s mouth.
Paranoia sets in and thousands of questions will run across a man’s mind: my credit card? How much is she going to spend today? How do I put this off? Do I fake a panic attack? But Alas! The woman will just not drop the idea of going shopping: she will drag him out of his deathbed and take him to the mall, all because she wants that particular shade of lipstick today. Failure to procure the desired item is likely to cause a major disaster in the woman’s, and so by definition the man’s, life.
A man will dread shopping so much that he will often do anything, and I mean anything, to avoid it. He will come up with utmost creativity to make up reasons, the most common and famous of which are medical in nature – Oh! I have a headache, stomach ache, etc. The smarter ones feign enthusiasm and when the time comes to take the great plunge, give reasons like – Oh, my God! My tyres are punctured! Damn… my credit card has been blocked! Naah! Don’t buy clothes from here, I’ll take you to Paris for shopping; this place is way below your standards, honey.
According to a study done by GE Money, women spend over 8 years of their life in shops. That’s 399 hours and 46 minutes each year, just shopping. “Shopping gives me peace,” says Reshmi Tongong, a 22 year old post graduate student “I feel very relaxed when I go shopping with my friends, and the pleasure I get from buying clothes and shoes is inexpressible.”
While a handful of men sail through the trauma of shopping and reach the shore without much trouble, the majority just get sucked into the quicksand. Shopping, shopping and more shopping is what most women love and ironically most men hate.
And a final word of advice for any man that might be reading this is: either get sucked into the quicksand or give up on women altogether!
Rana Mohammed
1st yr. M.A Mass Communication
