The Walk of Life

Is the way you shop an indication of the way you live? I mean, all our life is about shopping - shopping for a degree, college, matrimonial prospect, job. In fact even the small things we do everyday - what to eat, choosing the template or URL for your blog, what to wear, what to sing in the next JBS party - it's all shopping. They totally accept this fact at IIMC, and hence the concept of bidding and shopping for courses.

But back to the question of does the way you shop for clothes also show how you'll choose other things in your life. There are those for whom shopping is a well-planned economized decision, they save money, make a list of things they need purchase exactly what they need and come back. They might even club the shopping with an outing. These are the organized, financially prudent people we see around us everyday. People who take decisions on the basis of a proper cost-benefit analysis. They have a simple, uncomplicated existence. They know exactly what they want, they look for it, take it and then live life as usual.

At the other extreme are those who don't know what kind of clothes they're looking for. They know they want something - either because they're short of clothes, or because they want to relax and unwind by indulging themselves. They go around looking at everything available - kurtas, jeans, tops, everything, and might end up buying nothing. I believe that for them, the experience of shopping, of pampering themselves is more important than what they finally buy.

Then there are those impulsive shoppers who just walk into a shop and buy something they're not sure they need, just because they liked it. There are those who look at something and know that this is exactly what they're looking for. There are those who need to see all their options to reaffirm their decision to buy something.

Look at recruiters shopping for people. What sort of a shopping strategy do they have? They first see the whole pool available and decide who's worth looking at. Then they try those on (interviews, GDs - I guess they are trying to find ppl who fit their company!) and decide which ones to finally purchase. In fact this is the way I shop when I have too many good things to look at. I obviously can't try on 50 dresses to decide what to buy!!

I guess the worst possible decisions are mercy purchases - when you've shopped for too long, are too bored, too tired to decide. you buy something you don't really like, because of the sunk cost of the time spent in trying to find something worth purchasing. So you buy dresses you never wear, you study Instrumentation Engg for four years and never use it again.

Please don't ask me what I'm trying to convey through this post. Frankly speaking, I have no fricking idea. In fact, most probably, only a few people who know what I'm talking about will be able to identify with this. Its just that in the past few days of shopping for blog template, blog url, foreign universities and electives that my friends and I have done, I saw these weird connections. I saw that people shop differently in different moods, different situations, for different things. I guess even the way you shop makes you unique!!