It may be a stereotype - and most likely an undeserved one - but we men usually do make fun of our women when they go shopping. We groan and roll our eyes, wincing at the thought of our depleted checking accounts and/or huge balances on credit cards, even if our ladies earn their own paychecks and have every right to shop as much as they want. We call them shopaholics, a sort of humorous term of endearment, as far as we're concerned. We don't mean any real harm by it. I suppose it's the same way women feel about our fascination with sports or the television remote. And while we know this is wrong, we still do shake our heads sadly when our wives or girlfriends head off to the mall. Some of us even get chills and hyperventilate when our honeys get to shopping. It's something we men just have to learn to live with. Still, the fear strikes deep and frigid. There's no horror movie or novel that can strike as much fear into a man's heart as a woman with plastic money spending a day at the mall, is there?
While I know full well that Kelly isn't your typical mall addict, I still kidded her one sunny Saturday last month when she announced plans to zip on over to the local mall and "shop away the day." I used all the usual shopaholic quips and comments, asking her politely not to send us to the poorhouse, telling her that if she shopped too long and with too much conviction we might have to take out a second mortgage to pay for her spree. You know, the usual. In true Kelly form, she just shrugged it all off with a smile and a peck on my cheek. But as she left, purse in hand, I saw a little twinkle in her eyes, a look of "If only you knew." I wasn't sure if that meant I should worry about our finances or not, but I thought not. As I said, Kelly's as responsible a shopper as they come. She's not the least bit frivolous, and probably a better shopper than myself as far as buying things purely on a whim.
I had my own chores to do, errands to run and whatnot, so I eschewed the mall thing and stayed home to work my poor knuckles to the bone, making only short, out of house trips to pick up whatever supplies I needed. I'm not one for malls, anyway. Too many people salivating over the same items, or kids hanging around because they've nowhere else to go. Nope...not my scene. I guess in that respect us fellas should THANK our women for wanting to do our shopping for us. If it isn't Home Depot, we don't wanna be there.
When Kelly had said she was going to shop away the day, I had no idea she meant just that. She'd left around eleven in the morning, and at four that afternoon she still wasn't home. All shopaholic joking aside, I was beginning to get worried...and it had nothing to do with finances. When a loved one is overdue, all sorts of scary thoughts crawl through our brains, even some pretty way-out scenarios, one in a million possibilities. The human mind can dredge up some pretty horrible stuff.
But I needn't have worried. Around four-thirty my lady love finally made her grand appearance. I was in the garage just plugging in the weed-whacker to recharge it, when the garage door hummed to life, opening and letting in the bright afternoon sunlight. Kelly's Toyota seemed exhausted as it sighed its way into the bay opposite mine. I could swear I heard it say, "Oh, thank God," as it came to a stop. With an amused chuckle, I thought it must be a MALE Toyota, as a female one would have ENJOYED the day's shopping spree.
To my surprise, my lovely lady disembarked from her sighing auto with about a half dozen small bags in a single hand. They were each about the size of the tiny plastic bags you get from a greeting card store when you've purchased a special occasion card for someone. That was it...just the five or six small, flimsy bags. No huge clothing boxes, no shoe boxes, no unwieldy packages or bags large enough to fit Santa AND his entire team of reindeer in. I was shocked! Five hours of shopping and only those few tiny bags to show for it. I mean, I always knew Kelly was a responsible shopper, but I never expected THIS from a multiple hour mallfest! I was afraid she might even lose her membership card in the W.W.S.O. (women's worldwide shopping organization)! I even jokingly made that comment to Kel later. She simply smiled and shook her head, rolling her eyes as is her habit when she thinks I've said something inane.
After plugging in the thirsty weed-whacker, I stood and walked over to Kelly, who was busy brushing the wrinkles out of her skirt. When she saw me bending over to kiss her, she tilted her head up and let me peck her luscious lips. Her face had a pleased look on it, though not from my kiss. Rather, she was eminently pleased with her modest purchases.
"Are you okay?" I asked with a bewildered look on my face.
"Of course," she said, looking just as bewildered back at me, "Why wouldn't I be?"
I looked at the bags in her hands. "Over five hours shopping, and that's all you've got? Oh, wait...let me guess. You have an entire new kitchen in the trunk, right?"
"Wise ass," she said, "It so happens that I knew what I was shopping for today. I had specific items in mind. For your information, I didn't browse the mall at all, but went right for the stores I was interested in. So there."
Now I was even more confused. "You knew exactly what you wanted and where you needed to go...AND went only to those places. So what took five hours? If you only went to certain specific stores..."
Kelly immediately adopted that motherly look all women get when they feel their husbands are in need of some "educating". She shook her head and smiled, as if she was talking to a six year old.
"If you must know, Mr. Nosey, I spent a good deal of time in those few stores, buying only what I wanted, picking and choosing exactly the right items. I had some very specific ideas of what I was looking for. I wanted to make sure I got something....special. And," she added, "those stores didn't have everything I was looking for, so I took a couple of side trips. But between about five different stores - not all of which were at the mall, I remind you - I found everything I was searching for." Her face actually glowed with how pleased she was with the day's shopping coup.