The Shopping Trip

As a young teenager I vividly remember going to Smith Haven Mall with my mom and probably at least half of my siblings -it was a long trip, literally and figuratively. How exciting it was to leave this once sleepy village for a shopping adventure, to see the likes of department stores and escalators. The mall used to house A&S and Macy’s and Sears along with a host of other stores that have come and gone. And was it Spencer’s Gifts with black light posters and wave machines? That hour drive transported us into another world. I distinctly recall the first time I saw a sweater there that cost over $20.00- I couldn’t even imagine it-how could a sweater cost $20.00?

For our shopping trips mom would pack a small playmate cooler with tuna fish sandwiches on white bread and cans of ginger-ale to share.  I’m pretty sure she made at least four perfect sandwiches from one can of tuna! We would settle in and eat in the car in one of the parking lots. The idea of eating out was a foreign one.

Roll the tape to this afternoon when I accompanied my daughter on a shopping mission to a small store in Amagansett where the lounge wear pants cost $275.00! Now, I don’t believe I spent that much on my wedding dress and for some reason I just can’t get used to those prices. A lovely knitted vest there held a price tag of $1,275.00 and the wool was not even golden flax.

I happened to have been born into the generation of, ‘don’t buy it unless it’s on sale.’ Just the thought of a knitted vest costing as much as a home appliance seems utterly surprising. Some of my friends have taken to the thrill of adventure, shopping at thrift stores with some astonishing finds. The idea of recycling clothing is a good one.

It seems the older we get, the less we need, and perhaps even the less we want. Shopping for ‘more’ has lost quite a bit of its appeal as we spend much time trying to lighten the weight of our existence - our clutter-footprint in the world. For birthdays and holidays, I remember my aunt and uncle gifting each other with memberships to PBS. I’m sure they did not want to find room in their tidy home for one more thing. I do know that having less in our lives creates a roomier inside- of our beings and our souls.

I surely still have closets, and boxes and junk drawers to tackle. I still can find a thing or two I might want or need to add to my closet- but I know my overall goal is to have what I need and want what I have. We don’t go to the mall very often anymore and now on a good day we only get two sandwiches from one can of tuna. Things change, prices change, life changes - but memories, they stay the same.