Barnes & Noble Booksellers might be my mothership/Shopping is a dead end activity

Gaaaah, I love this time of year.
Everything is so... springy.

(cue the communal and inevitable "duh")

No, but really! This is my favorite season. It's not too hot (well, most places it isn't, here it's sweltering), the flowers are in bloom (I suppose "bloom" is subjective in Arizona), the air smells cleaner and fresher (when you're not in the smog)...

Well, damn. 

Thanks AZ, friend, you ruined my favorite season for me. Awesome. One of the pitfalls of living in a state that has two seasons: hot, and hotter.

It's okay though! It's not always terrible. A few weeks ago, the weather magically cooled to a balmy 65 degrees, and not everything felt quite like it was going to die tragically in the aridity of it all. There was a perfectly lovely fortnight with this unbelievably wonderful breeze that, though a bit strange in AZ's overall climate, was toooootally welcome.

(come baaaaack! please!)

So anyway, today's post.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers might be my mothership/Shopping is a dead end activity

So if you happen to be my friend on Facebook, you may have noticed I've uploaded a gazillion (hmm, interesting, Blogger recognizes "gazillion" as a word) pictures of books that I've found in B&N. I'm fairly certain I'm obsessed with books. And really, is there any other place that has a better ambience? I feel like I'm smarter as soon as I walk in, just knowing that there are literary giants present in the same room. (Not literally, duh, in the pages! THE PAGES!)


...Which poses a problem, as I'm also fairly certain I'm at least 24% hipster (which is not a desirable trait, I promise you), and I therefore get irate when people take my bookstore "mojo" (for lack of a better word). 


The problem is, while I love bookstores, I hate shopping. I loathe almost everything about it, except the long-term result of the endeavor itself: the merch.


(le GASP! but but but! you're a teenage girl! what could you possibly hate about shopping?)


Oh, I don't know. The... 


- way-too-long lines
- annoying people
- walking around until your feet hurt and still not finding anything worth your time
- loud food courts that you hear from 230849382 feet away (it's loud enough in general!)
- clothes that don't fit/don't come in your size and enter you into a rage or possibly tantrum 
- running awkwardly into others via your shopping cart 
- snobs that don't like your outfit when you're in public 
- lack of spending money 
- inability to choose/impatience at OTHERS inability to choose 
- lack of self-esteem in general to add insult to injury (injury mainly being the shopping cart)


And of course, all of these are subjective, and depend on WHERE you're shopping, but honestly? It doesn't change all that much. Whether it's the mall, supermarket, or standalone shops, it's usually a pressure cooker to pick out a purchase.


I've never understood it as a social activity, either. Going to the mall with friends doesn't exactly top my list of excitement. You may THINK you're secure in your friend choices, but the consequences of that kind of friendship don't really bare their fangs until you find yourself on a shopping expedition with someone who...


- is a different size than you, and can wear things you can't
- has more money than you, and can buy things you can't
- has different style than you, and so your clothing choices are always being judged, whether you wanted an opinion or not


Now, don't get me wrong. I love my friends dearly. But that's exactly why I can't shop with them. If I have any hope of staying friends with people, I can't expose them to the scary mess of person that is me at a mall. Also, yes, I do understand I'm probably blowing this way out of proportion and making assumptions that are most likely incorrect and off-base, but my mind is apparently very set in its ways. 


And my ultimate problem? If I can't handle shopping by myself or with anyone else, what do I do?


Answer?
Online shopping ftw. 
(Sure, there are pitfalls that are associated with online shopping too, but I just repress that kind of thinking.)


(notreallybye!)