Shopaholics

The economy has been in a slump. Hiring freezes, cutbacks, layoffs, chapter 11 filings, you name it are plaguing our companies, even in so-called recession-proof industries. Foreclosures have been forcing interest rates up and preventing people from getting credit approval at all.

So then why is it that every time I walk down the hill to Union Square, the streets are flooded with shoppers? Not just window shoppers—I mean people laden with bags. And I’m not hearing all manner of European languages spoken, either (although I'm sure that was certainly the case as recently as a couple months ago). I don’t get it. Has the pinch not yet been felt? Are people starting to ramp up their holiday shopping? Sure, the entire world may appear to be on sale, but WTF? It seems the stereotype is true, isn’t it. We Americans do have a consumption addiction. We see XX% off and the spendthrift monster inside us takes control.

Not that I’m on a moral high horse, but I suppose I’m sensitive to it having just spent a year trying to rein in spending. Not only is Paris one of the most expensive cities in the world, but I also lived there for the duration of the worst dollar-to-euro ratio ever; of course the euro’s value started to drop almost immediately after N and I decided to move back to the States. Despite the daily temptations posed by the chic Marais boutiques, I managed to get by only buying necessities and keeping the splurging to a weekly meal out and the occasional vacation. I have to say, I felt pretty damn good about it.

I even kept away from the biannual soldes--the only sales that the government permits. (Stores are able to offer “promotions” such as buy-one-get-one-free throughout the year, but cannot offer deep discounts other than the countrywide, approved sales.) The soldes are national events! People go absolutely nuts, lining up to wait for stores to open on the first morning. Think Black Friday, yet extended for a six-week period (the intensity of shoppers tapers off successively each week). This was one occasion on which I could call bullshit to all French criticism of American’s compulsive consumption. Um, you guys kind of behave the same way…albeit just twice a year. Even with the 40% discounts the French sales provided, I still couldn’t really afford to buy anything—and it wasn’t like I couldn’t find the same types of things in America, anyway.

Anyhow, with Black Friday 2008 just around the corner, I shudder to think what Union Square will be like. If Wall Street is any indication, companies will be offering bigger discounts than ever. It’ll be the ultimate madhouse. I plan to stay far, far away.