the asian dilemma: part one
first off, i desperately want to be doing this right now. hahaha.
not getting married but sitting around with my best friends in wedding dresses and drinking and being fat. haha.
i guess the only difference between that and what im doing now is the wedding dress. hiyoooo. (haha three cheers for self deprecating humor.)
anyway,
today was my second payday as a real nurse, and holy hell, tax brackets suck a big one.
instead of going shopping at the non-discounted racks of nordstrom and getting like 10 plates at gatten sushi or something (as i had originally thought i would be doing once i was makin money),
i went to the dollar bookfair and then the 99 cent store for some cookie mix to make star wars cookies. lucky for me, i am easily entertained and like being boring and nerdy.
but here is my asian dilemma: i am in desperate need of new work or gym shoes since ive been using the same pair for both and it makes my dogs bark halfway through my shifts, but anytime i have the heart to drag myself to the store to buy those $100 dollar nike frees that look so damn comfy, i just can’t do it.
blame it on my asian upbringing, or blame it on my numerous years browsing goodwills, thrift stores, dollar trees, and 99 cent stores. there’s a giant part of me that grew up so frugally that i cannot bring myself to pay full price for anything. and i mean ANYTHING.
how do people get past this?
i really have no idea.
until the time comes where i am willing to put down some real money for decent shoes, ill be that girl running in flip flops on the treadmill. haha.
typing this with salon pas on my feet,
J
WHAT!!?!??! *substitutions* (Dollarama continued...)
So, recently I heard of this dollar store chain called DollarTree. We drove past one once on a road trip, but it was too late to stop. I didn’t think much of it, because we had gone to a 99¢ Store, and I was disappointed (it was like a ghetto version of a dollar store… SOOOO not the same!). I saw on someone’s vlog that they went to DollarTree though, and it looked remarkably similar to Dollarama! I am freaking out! The closest one is over 30 miles (almost 50 kms) away, but WHO CARES!?!! We’re going anyway! LOL Will update with a full report later. I’m going to see if I can get some back-to-school shopping done! haha
This could be a momentous event in the ‘Adjustment to American Life’ saga.
I kind of feel like this baby today:
Chinese Version of Batman’s Origins Involve Stroking, Spiderman.
This origin, probably the true one that Wayne Corporation has paid to cover up, comes courtesy of a toy in a Chinese dollar store. Outstanding.
Talking about Community fanfic...
- Me: What's Britta doing?
- Her: What do you think? Being Britta. Boycotting Wal-Mart.
- Me: Yeah, that's Britta. Probably going on some rant about how it's destroying local businesses and economy, and is now going to all the small shops and buying all unnecessary and knick-knacky things she doesn't need to support them.
- Her: I feel I should too, but everything is so cheap there..
- Me: I KNOW.
- Her: Same with dollar stores. They are the immoral seductresses of consumerism.
- Me: It's evil. Yet I go back every time.
- Her: I am weak to the dollar store.
- Me: Whenever they'll take me, I'm theirs. I'm a consumer whore and I don't even care.
- Her: I do care, but not enough I guess.
- Me: That's just it though; we can say we care all we want, but unless we're actually doing anything about it, it means nothing. There is no middle ground - so I just don't care.
- Her: Touche,
- Me: It's terrible. We're terrible people, but that's just how it is.
A Word On Dollar Stores: This Is My Nightmare
This is an article about dollar stores. That said, it is absolutely NOT an article about price structures, low-income economics, or urban retailing. I have no interest in those things. I am interested in the deeper, more subversive socio-commercial forces that dollar stores embody and enable. Namely: depression, discount pregnancy tests, and whether or not Dollar Tree is the worst thing to ever happen to America. (SPOILER ALERT: Probably yes.)
By the grace of God, two loving parents, and some pro-Wal-Mart zoning regulations, I have managed to live upwards of 27 years without ever having darkened the door of a dollar store. Sadly, this came to an end last Wednesday when I was forced by a “friend” to enter a $0.99 Only Store to purchase some low-grade sunflower seeds for us to smuggle into Dodger Stadium.
Did the five to seven minutes I spent wondering that hateful desert of fluorescence and linoleum take years off my life? Who can say? Were they five to seven of the worst minutes of my life? Absolutely. At least since 9/11.
