Trade off

I was in H&M earlier today salivating at the 50% off madness, trying not to get bruised by the sharp elbows of shopping-crazed women with their laser-sharp gaze focussed on bagging another bargain, and then I remembered this Channel 4 news story I saw earlier this week that showed how even though all these high street stores say they subscribe to some kind of Ethical trading foundation, they still have 9 year old kids working in sweatshop conditions in Bangladesh. The undercover story showed all these little kids hunched over sewing machines for 10 hours a day, producing disposable t-shirts that we in the West can wear maybe 2 or 3 times before throwing away. Talk about a shopping buzz kill. And suddenly everything in the store looked crap. I could see it for what it was - just racks of superficial consumption to help you fill that gaping hole of emptiness that threatens to swallow you up if you ever stopped for a second to think about it. No wonder shopping is the second most popular leisure activity after watching TV. They are just distraction techniques, stopping you from facing up to life. I just couldn't buy anything. M - whose arms were full of discounted t-shirts and sweaters (men are just as bad as women) - felt pretty guilty after I told him my thoughts, so he asked if he should put all the clothes away. And I was like, what, are you going to shop fairtrade from now on? Wouldn't that mean a future of recycled hemp clothing, all in attractive varieties of beige? I'm sure its not that bad - but still why are all these clothes in cream, or olive green? So he continued on his way to the till, with a tinge of a guilty conscience, and I decided, I think I have enough clothes to do me for now..... till New York that is.

When marketing calls go wrong

I've been getting marketing phone calls EveryDay for the last week from some off-shore telemarketing firm, trying to sell me mobile phone packages. I think I'm a bit too nice to them. Every time they call I politely request they take me off their mailing list. And then the next day I'll get a call again. This last time before they even started to speak I said, can you please take me off your mailing list, I get calls from you every day about mobile phones! So the guy on the other end said look madam if I talk to you about mobile phones you have every right to scold me. I make the mistake of laughing and say OK, then he goes, so Madam, are you happy with your mobile phone package? Like what the...? I never should've laughed. You can't let out that you're a normal decent person. That you have a shred of humanity and manners. I should've been like this guy... Although, he seems like on the verge of a breakdown.(Make sure your sound's turned on)