I had the opportunity to sneak away from Jim and Nic this weekend and found myself at DSW. I haven’t bought new shoes in a while because, oddly enough, I have every type that I need except for one (black, pointy, close-toed stilettos) and I don’t really need those until sandals are no longer season-appropriate.
Anyway, I roamed the clearance section for steals and found myself getting very possessive over the Size 8 section. There was a chick who was there before me and one who came after I was already there. Though I wanted to take my time and look at each shoe, I started rushing through to make sure if there were any amazing pairs that I saw and claimed them first.
As I realized what I was doing, I started thinking about the dozens of people who probably paced the section before me that day and the shoes they maybe snatched before I even got the chance to see them. What’s strange isn’t that I got hung-up about missed opportunities, but rather that my perception of many places/things is that they didn’t exist before I got there. I don’t get mad about the shoes already gone before I arrived; I don’t give too much thought to the hundreds of people who slept on the hotel mattress before me (except for the comforter, I'm very aware of the fact that hotel comforters rarely get washed); I don’t think about the possibility that the puppy’s tongue that just kissed me might have been on its butt 5 minutes before I arrived. My conscious basically convinces itself that the item (the shoe section, the bed, the puppy, etc.) I'm in contact with sat idle until I appeared. *Poof* Suddenly that thing/place exists because I'm with it.
A dumb, incorrect, and self-absorbed view of the world, I know. I think that I accept this absurd view because to think of the dozens of germs and possibilities of germs on an item is too overwhelming and I, nor any of us probably, would never come in contact with the outside world if I really stopped to consider what I'm touching has touched before me. And so, I choose to not think about it.
What probably is neurotic isn’t that things don’t have relevance until I come in contact with them but I get possessive of them once I do (like my shoe section).
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10 comments:
It's a fairly accurate feeling for many people. ok, myself included. It's hard to look through others eyes when you don't know they exist.
I KNOW in my head stuff like that, but you can't change what you don't know. Besides. Maybe THE fabulous shoes showed up that day! (which has happened to me with a horse sweater in a RL store. I was the FIRST one to get it as they'd just received it that morning and hadn't even put the display piece out (but had some sitting on the shelves so that once one was displayed they'd be stocked).
Besides. You can't control what has already happened, but you CAN control what's going on now....you really can snatch up a good deal now if you try. Can't help it if the great deal was gone 5 minutes prior to you showing up. :)
I think the same way you do Karen. Let me know when you go to the looney bin and I will go with you :-)
Your future favorite sister-in-law :-)
Every once in awhile I do go through the what have I missed by getting her today. Honestly, it is a bad idea, you cannot go through life that way, thinking of missed opportunities. I have on occasion gotten possessive, but for the most part I want everyone to get what they want, even strangers. I have many a times given something to someone else at a store when it was the last one (course I probably didn't really want it thaaat much!!). :) I find it cute that you noticed this about yourself!
You are too funny! The puppy and butt comment totally had me laughing. Then again... all those drunk nights and kissing people. What were they doing before you kissed them? :-)
I think the exact same way! I actually was talking with Stephanie about it on Sunday night... like... when I come into someone's life, I feel like their existance is just begining and when I leave... it's over. It's hard to run into people months or even years later and realize that their life didn't stop just because you weren't in it... and that so much has happened and all you get is a "how are things going?" "fine" response. I mean, how much can you really say in a few minutes... I felt that way Sunday when I ran into all my old friends cabrewing. I'll blog more about it on my own page here in the next day or two. Basically... I know what you mean and you're not looney at all!!
Okay, first off, Sarah's comment was THE BEST!!!! Secondly, I let a dog lick my face tonight, and I too did not think about whether or not it had just licked it's butt. I just enjoyed the moment. :)
I don't let dogs lick anything but my hands. I don't touch hotel comforters with anything but my hands. I try not to touch door handles in public bathrooms. I don't touch anything in a bus (like leaning on the window) except with my hands.
I wash my hands about five to ten times a day. I am Mrs. Monk. See you in the looney bin!
I do all that, too, Katrin!
Also, I HATE shaking people's hands - either when meeting them or in Church. It makes me cringe. They may have been coughing or picking their nose right before touching me.
I have no germ phobias. Is that just as weird as having them? I'd let my dog lick my kid's face. And I touch lots of things in public...That sounds naughty doesn't it? *wink*
Ew. I don't let MY Milo lick even my arm or my hands....I don't kiss him, either. But I do give him hugs and lots of scruffs.
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