Shopping in the “Sales”

This summer has been so wet and miserable this far that it is not a surprise that stores are full of unsold stock. The “sales” season seems to already have been going on for several weeks.

I am not a keen shopper. Oh, don’t misunderstand me – I like to buy – but usually I pick up things as I see them. If I ever need something in particular I am guaranteed to search for ever to find it.

But yesterday – with a little time to kill – I wandered into Marks & Spencer.The “SALE” had just started that morning and the place was heaving with women rifling through rails for the perfect bargain.

I pride myself in buying – not being sold to. But there is something about the “sale” tag that makes me want to search a little too. So I found myself looking through items for my size – without really even looking at what the items were! I don’t wear the kind of skirts that were on offer – ever ( though they did have my size in long, medium and short). I put it back and had a talk with myself.

If I wouldn’t have bought it last week then I was not going to buy it now.

But I passed ladies laden with armfuls of stuff buying up like there was no tomorrow – and some of this stuff was really quite cheap already (by my standards I admit)

Tomorrow sees the start of the Next sale. Next sales are legendary for their queues and the fact that the stores open at 5.30am or so to deal with the rush. At the Next sale you are not allowed to try the clothes on so – not surprisingly after a few days the shops are restocked with returned goods.My son once worked a shift on the first day of the sale and said that people were knocking him out of the way to get things. Manners and patience had disappeared – it was every woman for herself . I make this a quite clear distinction – it seems to be an almost unique female phenomenon.

Shortly I am meeting up with my parents. Mum loves a bargain so guess where we are headed. Dad and I can stand and watch …or will I get swept away with ”sales fever” again?