Christmas shopping

So I shall try to keep this post solely on what the topic clearly states.But true to the inherent randomness of my nature,I'm pretty sure I will end up writing about the birds and the bees,bitching,blaming,blaspheming and everything else in between the teeny tiny random bits of life from this side of the wall and more as well.

I had not intended to go shopping at all that day.I have pretty much made up my mind not to participate in this yearly stampede of Christmas shopping this year and was very much happy and proud of my decision after seeing all those women jostling each other,trampling,pushing and shoving their way in to shops as if the sign on the shop said that they were giving away free coconuts(yup,a coconut is fifty something rupees now,so it would seem fair enough if people indeed killed each other for a freebie coconut bonanza) I would breeze past all these shops,the queues,the women,children,men,teenagers,toddlers,infants(even foetuses in mummy tummies) and everything else and smile smugly to myself,thinking of the patheticness of it all,contemplating on the superiority of myself in rejecting all these frivolities.Christmas shopping indeed!

Well,I shouldn't have.

It just so happened that I worked all night one night on this very important document and just when I switched on the printer to get the printouts,I realize that I'm out of ink.So begins my expedition in search of a place within the town to refill my ink cartridges.

Wriggling my way through a frenzied mess of arms legs and an occasional head,I finally managed to find a place and get myself a refill after which I was determined to head straight home.Only to find myself walking behind this renowned(and well loved...ahem) influential figure in the political arena of the area who had decided to come out of his abode and do some shopping himself that day.And so he waddles along with his many body guards,his henchmen and all and I,in a desperate attempt to get past him and his troop fail to do so and instead of taking the risk of brushing past him and getting arrested and then being tied to a tree,I duck in to the nearest shop in an attempt to avoid the hullabaloo.The story starts there.

It wasn't as crowded as I thought,but somehow,it was busy.I began to relax when I got in there and wandered around quite aimlessly,fingering a blouse here,twirling a skirt there,trying on hats everywhere when suddenly,lo and behold! The most gorgeous top that I had ever seen in my life just hung there,glistening in all its glory! (The story from there onwards continues in slow motion) I float away towards the top with my arms outstretched(it just seems like a long way off in slow motion) my fingers longing to feel that silk,longing to run my hand through its folds and finally,just as my finger tips barely brush against the fabric,another bejeweled,cruel looking hand quickly snatched it away from my grasp.(slow motion ends here) frantically I searched around for a shop assistant and managed to drag a poor dude who was busy stacking shoes at a far corner of the shop over to the place only to hear from him that the above said piece was the last of the lot.I felt utterly deflated and walked away with my head hung low.

Only to spot another gorgeous blouse! This time I manage to grab it for myself and made my way towards a fit on room which I found after some effort.I put it on(perfect fit) twirl around to face the mirror.....only there WAS no mirror! There was no absofrigginlutely way that I was going to walk out of the dressing room and out in to the middle of the room to have a peek at myself in one of those mirrors outside(honestly,the place was swathed in mirrors hung high and low.Why in the God almighty's name couldn't they fix one measly mirror in the fit on room??? Really!)So then with a heavy heart I hung that gorgeous top back on its hanger and walked away,head bowed and came out of the place(personal vow to never buy anything unless I can try it on and see for myself what it looks like.Which is why I don't set foot in House of Fashions anymore unless somebody drags me there out of my will)

Only to find myself walking behind the VIPs,IPs and the not-so VIPs again.It just so happens that they had decided to check out the neighboring shop and we all had decided to come out at exactly the same time.So I  duck in to another shop.From the moment I entered,I had this rather nasty feeling of being followed around.This rather disgruntled female employee was close at my heels,yapping away,never missing a step and asking me what I wanted every few seconds.It was rather annoying really.I mean for God's sake,can't a girl walk in to a shop and wander around,looking for nothing in particular??She kept rehanging,rearranging,refolding the cloths that I had flipped through although there was absolutely no need to do so.And then I spot a piece of garment that I might actually like and I ask for a smaller size and she,without even bothering to look through the pile tells me that there are no small sizes there.The nerve!

I walk out of the shop fuming and by now,the shopping fever has kicked in,so I walk in to another shop only to find myself surrounded by a swarm of male shop assistants,extremely enthusiastic to be of any help at all.It only has male shop assistants and I remember going there with one of my friends to the undergarments section and my friend being the brave one,had a million questions to ask the underwear dude about the cup sizes,straps,etc to all of which he answered very skilfully indeed(We were very impressed and decided on the spot that all men should be well aware of these things specially boyfriends so that we could send them to a shop and expect them not to make a monumental mess of what we wanted them to bring)Anyways,I walk around like the queen bee for a while and get tired of all the attention soon enough.It was rather irritating how one would comment on how good a certain piece of clothing would look on me and another would comment on how the outfit would compliment my skin tone,my eyes,hair,figure,etc thus being analysed and dissected like a bug at the school science lab.Honestly,is it too much to ask to be able to shop without being smothered by the overenthusiastic,nosy and sometimes rather angry shop assistants?Cant a girl just walk around having some quality shopping time with only herself and the refreshing smell of new cloths around her?

Anyways,I returned home after buying only a couple of chunky bangles(Yes! I have an incurable fetish for bangles,antique rings and stuff of that sort if you really must know) and I swore not to return to the shops again until the shopping frenzy has cleared out and everything is in order as they should be.

Just returned after a dinner party after watching people get drunk,dance,yell,swagger around and make complete fools of themselves.Funny how people behave after they are drunk isn't it? I guess every person on earth suffers from multiple personality disorder.Everybody has two or more personalities in them which emerge during different times and conditions.As for me,I have more than eight,most of which take me by surprise occasionally.Fascinating creatures human beings are.Including myself I suppose.

Got a short story of five or more pages to write and I'm completely dry.Me being dry due to the fact that it has to be written in French.Yeah I know,bummer.Although I'm supposed to be lawfully wedded to the French language,English shall always be my one true love,the unrequited,the one with whom I shall always identify myself with,the one to whom I can relate to completely and totally,the one that will always bring out the best in me and with whom I shall be able to share all my feelings with.French shall always be the outsider,the intruder,the one who stole me away and espoused me by force thus keeping me a prisoner( Tad bit dramatic,aren't we?) To top that off,got to figure out my dissertation soon too and I'm thinking of a comparative study of French and Sri Lankan women poets.AND I got a translation at hand too which I'm hoping that I will be able to do in English.Well,that's how my life rolls at the moment.

True to myself,I had wandered off topic and had typed away to my heart's content.Anyways,its already well past 12 and I got some stuff to do before I hit the bed.Good night everyone! Sleep tight! :)