Yesterday we had business in Swindon, so took the opportunity to pay a visit to the outlet mall there to "invest" in a large piece of Le Creuset we've been intending to buy for some time. The promotional signs all had this "Guilt Free Shopping" tag, which both of us felt rather uneasy about.
Why might we feel guilty about shopping anyway? Because we're buying something we don't need? Perhaps. But hopefully we've thought about what we're buying and as far as our own buying habits go, I think we're past too many impulse purchases. Maybe it's because we might be tempted to buy something we can't really afford, which I think is far more likely to be the cause - in which case is the Mall itself really right to absolve us of such guilt?
I'm going to get uncharacteristically puritan here and say that I don't think shopping should ever be guilt free. Most of us have far too much "stuff" anyway - I count myself as top of that list - and whether the guilt is induced by financial, social, ethical or any other conscience, I think we should never allow our shopping to become totally guilt-free.
All of which is illustrated by the fact that we have no idea just where we will store our new (very) large Le Creuset casserole.
