The sale frenzy

Often, it is only when the day is almost over that you realise you've succumbed to the lures of sale shopping. You realise you're becoming a compulsive shopper with that running against the clock — perhaps with a flight to catch in the evening — your eyes still catching sight of the price slashes flashing in bright orange. And so it happened to me, on a not-so-fine Wednesday morning, when the skies were spitting away, the all-encompassing greys of London stretching above me, as if to deter me. So, of course, off I went, ducking my head as I walked on and into the train. I didn't have a plan to spend over four hours shopping. Rather, I did have a plan to spend only a couple of hours at the most in Knightsbridge. However, walking into Harrods, watching a man use his pricing gun on one product after another as I was inspecting the large booths that looked like lucky dips of cosmetics, prices being reduced even further right there and then, was like bait. Immediately I was fleeing from one department to the next, floor after floor, to see what else had been reduced and by how much. Whether or not I needed anything, a sale of this nature where it gets better and better each day, would naturally provide a reason to shop. The problem with shopping in a rush, and when you've set yourself a time limit, is that you're rushing around and not really enjoying yourself because you're feeling guilty for shopping for longer than you really have. The culprit in all this? The sale. The sales in London have been fabulous this year. So fabulous that I was considering delaying my flight by a few days just to be able to visit Harrods on the last day of their sales. If some of the prices were down by 80 per cent right now, I could only imagine how the last day would fare. The problem with sales is buying something and returning a few days later only to find it has been reduced even further. Exactly what happened with the top I bought from Zara, now even cheaper, which I wanted to exchange with something else … Grrr! The issue was that I had not kept the receipt, and so had to exchange for something at the latest discounted price. And then, feeling pinched by this albeit small amount, the only way I could make myself feel better was by looking at the top that was £130 (Dh740) in Harrods, which I bought for £30 (Dh170), and the trolley bag discounted by almost 50 per cent. The list goes on but by now, since you are probably getting jealous, I feel compelled to stop. Well, with all the time I felt I had wasted on shopping, thinking I had done all my gifts for the year, I kept remembering people I had forgotten. Then, trying to promise myself I was now done, no more shopping (apart from, maybe a pair of sandals or ankle boots, a necessity of course), I checked in at the airport and was forced yet again to buy a heavily discounted wallet. The reason? As always, it was too cheap not to buy.