Wednesday, June 11, 2008

What I didn't buy in Vancouver

UBC had a kind of market set up in the student union building so that everytime I went for coffee, I ran a gamut of things I wanted. I resisted, but I was seriously tempted just to call the whole not shopping thing off. I didn't buy a pair of sunglasses with lavendar frames, I didn't buy a brown and black scarf and I didn't buy a zip up cloth bag, though they had so many great fabrics that I can't be sure of which one I didn't buy. The crazy thing is that although for sure I would have bought those things at those prices (and ohmygod they were cheap) when they were placed enticingly in my way, I own enough bags, scarves and probably sunglasses that I could live to be 90 and just use what I already have. Clearly I have been to these markets before.

There was a time in my life (it was called being a poor student) when I owned almost nothing. But in those days when I did buy something what a pleasure it was to choose that one thing and to go home and use it. But now often I won't even recall what I bought.