Your Definition of Shopping

Racheal Rhee

Concluding Blog

inside source: Class time

Outside source: Field Trip

                     Fighting against Consumerism. Sounds so easy yet so hard to follow through. There were many temptations through emails contained with exclusive sales code, opportunity to shop til I drop with free shipping which would save me 'so much' money. But passed by those sugar coated temptations came reminder of Professor Valverde's strict reminders in class. " DON'T BUY ANYTHING". Yes ma'am, order has been taken. After a month of fighting against consumerism, it is eye opening to see how much the marketing system has developed their own ways of making the general population to feel like they have to be the consumer without any other option. Putting a price tag onto anything and almost everything was the beginning point. The exclusive sale deals on online shopping site (yes, i did go eye shopping..) was not so much different from regular day prices. At this point, it is obvious that clothing companies habitually attract consumers by the word 'SALE' with bright red color. Then came the Black Friday after Thanksgiving dinner. Online, outdoor stores.. They were ridiculous. As i posted on earlier blog about black Friday, it seemed as if the companies had price tags separately ordered only for black Friday. In modern terms.. Am I trippin? All of the commercials and photo shoots, blogs and journals in fashion industry and media entertainment subconsciously screams at the audience to go buy the clothing and material that are needed to catch up with the most recent looks. Oh you have the same looking coat? Why not buy two different color to match with your boots AND sneakers for different seasons? Oh you don't know what to get as a present for your friend? Why not get them fashionable scarf or shoes to make them happy?

                 When did world become a place where people have to be satisfied with materialistic products and presents? Even when I was ten years old, I remember family and relatives giving flowers and cards to each other during holidays. Yes it was very satisfying because getting something '$expensive$' was not always the point of giving a successful gift.

                 Shopping for self. Depending on who we are, we all individually have different perspective about shopping for self. I always thought that shopping meant going out to SF downtown, or big malls to find something that follows recent trend. However, my definition of shopping turned around after the be green challenge. For the last class of Fall quarter 2012, Professor Valverde and our class went thrift shopping. Say what? yes. THRIFT SHOPPING. There were many clothing that looked out of style and sometimes worn out. However, looking through the clothing forced me to trim down the selection to find that suits me perfectly, with 1/8 of the price I would have to pay in outlets or malls. It was an eye opening moment for me, appreciating the process of fight against consumerism. Not only was I saving money for the month, but I figured that I was able to save money in the long run thinking back to this challenge every time I go out shopping.

                  Dear Shoppers who love to spend money on products that you don't know will last you for life time but shop anyways because you feel like you NEED to shop! I suggest you try to follow up with the be green challenge. Not only your perspective will change, but your definition of shopping will also change. :]