Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    Marge, I think there are men who clip coupons. I think there are men
    who read the fine print to see if they get something. My uncle goes to
    the Southwest several times a year and always spends time arguing for,
    checking out, and just generally seeing where all the bargains and
    freebies are to be found. He even went from Boston to Puerto Rico to
    lunch at the airport, so he could get his Frequent Flyer miles and a
    freebie to Hawaii. 
    
    I, on the other hand, could care about bargains. If something's on sale
    when I want it andis convenient for me to get to, then all well and
    good. If not, so what? I WANT IT WHEN I WANT IT. Ooops. Sorry to shout.
    I get carried away when I want my toys. :-) I don't care about bargain
    prices or conveniene. I just go and get it. I know when I'm ready and
    when I'm not. I bought an RCA top of the line VCR (At the time) on sale
    at K-Mart and bought a new color TV at Bradlee's for full price. Just
    because they were what I wanted, at the time I was ready to buy them.
    Basically this is impulse buying and I can't speak for all men, of
    course. Just 2 examples.
    
    My mother was brought up during the Great Depression of the 1930's.
    They had to scrounge for everything. Walk the railroad tracks for coal
    to heat their house, that type of thing. She clips all coupons, yells
    at me when I impulse buy, and in general would live a year without some
    things until they went on sale. She gets all rebates and is really
    frugal.
    
    I know women who buy like her, women who spend $25.00 in gas to save
    $1.00 on an item they want and all manner of types. I know men the who
    behave the same way. I don't think you can generalize.
    
    Just my humble an probably uninformed oppinion.
    
    PJ

    Sooooo, it may be a mania, but not limited to the female gender, then?
    
    Your uncle probably would have read the newsletter I roundfiled, Phil.
    :^)
    
    What about these timeshare come-ons.  I know one person who has half a
    dozen barbecues, and she has never even bought a single "timeslice".
    
    mdh

    Yeah, my uncle loves to buy toys, but get a bargain in the process. I,
    on the other hand, just like to buy toys. I'm also pleased to get
    something for nothing, but have resigned myself to the fact that it
    ain't gonna happen. "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." 
    
    Example: In Saturday's mail, I got a notification from the Publisher's
    Clearing House, that I won. I said "Oh boy" Upon opening it, I found it
    to be a "consolation prize". It was a $200.00 voucher good towards the
    purchase of my choice of either one of two 5 piece designer luggage
    sets, an RCA color TV, or his and hers diamond watches. All the prizes
    rainged from $250 to $475 and so I get the privelige of paying from $50
    to $275 dollars for my prize. Now, while I feel that that is
    ridiculous, I'm still gonna go for the watches. See, I just love to
    spend and if it's something luxurious, I don't care, but is it a
    bargain. No, I don't think so and I don't look for them. If I find one,
    great, but that's not what I'm about when shopping. Maybe why I'm
    always broke, but I don't care.
    
    Phil

    Just write on my tombstone:
    
    She Got It On Sale

    
    	Seen on a shelf in the Harvard Coop's book department...
    
    		"Women Who Shop Too Much"
    
    						clb

    re: "Women Who Shop too Much"
    
    overheard woman saying, "I simply MUST buy that new book!"
    
    [ -:) not really]
    
    But seriously, this is a lousy stereotype.  The ailment is not confined
    to the female.  It certainly stereotypes women as consumers, as
    implicitly, men as bread winners.  And hence trivializes women.
    
    On the other hand, for some women shopping is an outlet for their
    energies and a form of relaxation.  My Mom used to take me to the
    department stores on Saturday afternoons all the time.  I never did
    grow into the mold, though:  When I was a teenager I spent all my
    clothing money on books!
    
    I do like to freqent the perfumed emporia, but the prices are usually a
    deterrent.  I'd still rather read a book.  If I can't buy stuff on sale
    (it better be really cheap), I usually don't.
    
    Laura

    It is stereotyped, the fact that women are compulsive shoppers because
    they are women. Even a shoe company that specializes in women's shoes,
    is advertising a shopping pump and has a cute little jingle that
    includes the line "shop 'til you drop" in it. This is the same company
    that has a basketball game between teams of women who are wearing 3-4
    in heeled pumps to prove the point of sneaker like pumps. 
    
    Phil

	I, for one, detest shopping.  The Mall Mentality grates
	on my nerves, I abhor crowds, and the odor of department
	stores is enough for me to yearn for smelling salts, to
	perhaps wake me from the consumer nightmare of strolling
	through shops, shoulder to shoulder, squeezing past odd
	bodies in too-small aisles, catching whiffs of aromatic
	women who've walked one too many times past the perfume
	counter.  (Whewwww.)

	I do clip coupons and enjoy grocery shopping, but I tend
	to go super early Saturday mornings when no one else has
	awakened, and the place is nearly vacant.

	I do enjoy shopping at spiritual/metaphysical shops, and
	card/stationery stores, and any type of store in Europe,
	especially in Switzerland.

	Carla

    I enter any contest that doesn't require more from me than the cost of
    a stamp and an envelope.  So far, I've won nothing.
    
    When I have money, I enjoy shopping, but tend to stay away from the
    larger department stores.  These are the ones that have the racks so
    close together that you can't get yourself by them, never mind a
    shopping cart.  Also they put so much clothing on the racks that you
    can't look through them.  
    
    Major complaint is that stores tend to put clothes by style or color
    instead of by size.  If I have to spend more than 5 minutes finding
    my size, I don't buy.  It's a waste of my time looking through racks
    and racks of clothes only to find nothing in my size.  I could hve
    spent that time in the local book store.
    
    Linda
    

    I wonder how many of us have clothing hanging in our closets with the
    tags still attached.

    re .10
    
    And I'm the opposite.  I *love* having the clothes sorted by color
    and style.  I'm hopeless at putting an outfit together, and need
    a salesperson's help.  In their absence, which is most often the
    case, outfits put together get me to buy rather than walk out in
    disgust and dismay.  Also helps me get to the stuff in "my colors"
    more quickly, and avoid looking through all the stuff that isn't
    right for me.
    
    And shopping for clothing is a twice yearly "event" to be accomplished
    as quickly as possible.  Christmas gets done from a list drawn up
    before setting foot in a mall.  All other shopping is either books
    or needlework.  Bookstores are worth an hour, minimum :-)
    
    Alison

    regarding stereotypes, I heard of a survey which concluded that
    men spend an avg 6 hrs/wk shopping and women spend 4.
    
    I find this suspicious but interesting.  Perhaps the clock starts
    before you get into the car?
    
    ed

    re .13, maybe the men are shopping longer, but for boring,
    uninteresting things....(i.e. not clothes or jewelry)
    
    Lorna
    

    Nah.  They're dithering.
    
    Do I want a vegetable?  Do I want a green vegetable?  Do I want a
    green, leafy vegetable?  Do I want this variety of green, leafy
    vegetable?  Do I want this particular specimen of this variety of
    green, leafy vegetable?  Do I want this particular specimen of this
    variety of green, leafy vegetable enough to pay this much money for
    it?
    
    						Ann B.

    Wow!  *This* topic has been ratholed very nicely!  (*8  
    
    You folk are all talking about *spending* money; the basenote specified
    freebies.  
    
    
    
    				I LOVE FREEBIES!!!!!!!  
    				wild mouse dancing
    
    
    
    
    ahem....now back to the topic.
    
    E Grace

    well, E Grace, it's kind of a lite topic, so if it ratholes, that's
    fine...
    
    grins,
    

    The dithering goes back to when [some of us] tried smoking:
    
    What brand?
    Pack or box?
    Menthol or plain?
    Kings, regular or 100's?
    Filter tip or plain?
    We're out of those, what else would you like?
    
    Forget it, it's easier to quit.
    
    ed
    

    :-)
    					Ann B.

    -d
    
    I dither too.  (How else would I know the thought process so well?)
    Some people just dither faster than others.
    
    I too will not take something that's free if it isn't something
    I'd use.
    
    					Ann B.

    G'day,
     Re -.a_few  ... wild mouse parties...
    
       
     I  find the cables all get twisted up.
    
    I can understand the men taking 6 hours and the femen taking 4...
    
    
    
    Thats 2 for themselves and the 4 paying for the femen that took them
    shopping...
    
    ;-) * 000,000s
    
    oh if its male and female, it _must_ be men and femen n'est-ce pas?
    <---more millions of smiley faces here--->
    
    and dithering is the art of moving an image about so that it looks as
    tho its all there when its not. I know lots of folk who look as tho
    they are all there, but they're not! I guess they're dithering?
    
    
    derek