BY: Jim's Wife
Shopping on the internet is easy. You can shop in your PJs, in the middle of the night, or as they say of the postman, in rain, sleet or snow. During the recent pandemic, I know shopping the internet became the “go to” way to shop.
I am not sure how long it had been since I had been in a retail store. Probably a week or two before the shutdown. So the other day, during my lunch break when I had nothing to do, I decided to run into a local store I had not frequented in awhile.
Dear goodness. Angels sang. I walked in and people said hello. The store smelled like it was inviting me to come in and enjoy my visit. It was full of colorful items, shiny items, soft items and needful items. I call them needful because you do not realize you need them until you see them. I would never have found some of the things I bought if I were shopping online because I did not know I needed it until I walked by it. Some of the best treasures are found this way.
Walking up and down the aisles, I smiled at people in passing, and they all smiled back. A touch of human contact is sometimes a true gift. A smile here, a quick hello there. When I walked out the sun was shining brightly which made me want break out into song “walking on sunshine”.
When you order online, you wait for it to arrive in a box and then you have to deal with the box. When you buy from a local store, you get a sack. You get the item purchased at the exact same time that you buy it, and you get a sack, a bag or call it a carryall. Sometimes the bag can be re-used as a garbage receptacle, sometimes you can use it to pack up items, or you can just horde them under the kitchen sink like most of us do!
I am really not that much of a shopper. I never hang out at the mall, and I am not one of those people who know when the re-stocking is done in which stores. But I did need retail therapy. I admit it lifted my spirits a lot. It was not how much I spent (too much) or what I bought (wonderful things) but that I enjoyed browsing and being in the retail environment.
I know people say that the internet has replaced so much and many businesses are now obsolete. I think it would be great if people made an effort not to allow the internet to replace our mom-and-pop retail establishments. Our local folks trying to keep a store open need our help to stay alive. It may be easier to shop at night in your PJs but I think we all need that little retail therapy derived from walking up and down the aisles, browsing, finding items we need while at the same time helping out our community.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE June 19 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.