Visions of Shopping Dancing In My Head

I couldn't sleep last night, so I lay there and decided to take a trip instead. A visual journey if you will...back to the one place I spent the more time at during childhood than my own home: the Oakdale Mall.

Ahh...I felt as if I re-visited it last night, the Oakdale Mall, in Johnson City, New York in all it's former 1980s glory: the dark-brown tile floors; the big Sears store anchoring one end where we'd always park the family Ford Sable and head inside, purses clutched tightly, ready for action; the Limited store on the right, boasting new "Forenza" t-shirts; the hot pretzel and lemonade stand in the middle, tempting me with its delightful smells; the Bon Ton store at the half-way point, awaiting my mom and I with its sales racks and our friend Jo the sales lady who knew my sister and would stop and chat with us. Then, past the Bon-Ton, I would pass the 5-7-9 store on my right, the only store I couldn't go in unless they could sew together two items making say a size 12 or larger for me to fit into...and then finally the good old Montgomery Ward store at the other end of the mall, where I used to go visit my sister as a child. That's where she worked when I was little, where she bought me my first Cabbage Patch doll, where she used to work at the snack station, and where I proudly went around saying, "I am Allison's little sister. She works here you know."

I adored going to the mall. My mom, big sister, and me...I guess we weren't a family who hiked, or did charity work together, or who went touring the country singing like the Patridge Family, oh no...but we did shop together. Sometimes I think we are not just a country divided down political lines--I think we are a country divided by money types: the spenders and savers. And we were definitely the spenders.

We would take our part-time, full-time, baby-sitting, birthday money, pocket-money, you-name-it-money to the mall and spend. Long before I sat here today blogging about coupons and deals and scouting for the best grocceries in town, we were out on the prowl like tigers on the African Serengenti stealthily moving in on our prey: the best deals in town. We wanted the 2-for-1 sales, the clearance racks, the double-coupons.

The irony is, even though I am still "on the hunt" for good deals, I have changed. I only hunt for cheap food. When it comes to clothes, I prefer to hunt at second-hand stores, Ross, or TJMaxx. I find malls too big, too bright, and too loud. And most importantly, too expensive. I just can't swallow paying clearance prices there when I know I can get things cheaper at the second-hand stores, yard sales, or the bargain basement stores. My sister and mom still go to malls, and my husband--he is still a lover of malls.

In fact, one of our earliest dates--date 3 or 4--I made the great sacrifice for him. I took him to a mall in Virginia Beach area to see his favorite football player. I figured we'd drive there, see Joe Theisman, eat, and leave. No big deal, right? I hadn't gone to a mall for a long time, aside from the occasional trip to see the Easter bunny or the times I had gone to Boston to see my sister. But when we go to the mall, we saw Joe, and then, my husband-to-be suggested that we, "look around." I indulged him. Hours later, I left, with expensive shoes I didn't need, and a T-shirt that cost too much. :-) But we had a great time.

I think somehow along the years, I have undergone a change. I am slowly becomming a saver. I want to save money. I don't want to collect things anymore. I actually own less clothes than when I was younger. I only want to own just what I need to be comfortable and the rest for the kids to be comfortable. The memories of the malls seem funny to me now. I grew up inside in a mall, but I may grow old outside in the sun.

So, what are you? A spender or a saver? Or a little of both?

Until we meet again. My recessionary tale will continue tomorrow.