Shopping, Selling & Serena

Picture it. Sydney. January, 2021. A bustling shopping centre. A steaming cappuccino. And me. With my parents. Because it's perfectly normal for a grown ass woman to go shopping with her folks. Isn't it? Sniff.

This was our Monday morning ritual. In fact, we were regulars at the local shopping centre. It was practically my home away from home. Until lockdown life became a thing. Shopping is now an altogether different experience.

Image credit: Free Stock Photos · Pexels

I do like shopping for the most part.  Occasionally all the noise, brightness, people and potential decision making  becomes a bit too much for this aspie. Yes, in case you forgot or didn't know, I'm on the autistic spectrum. It sometimes seems like I forget this myself. Or at least push it aside and try to do all the things and then it's all suddenly too much and I have to hide again. But back to shopping.

As a child I was terrified of lifts and escalators. Specifically I didn't like attempting to step onto what was essentially moving stairs. Sometimes this fear still crops up as an adult. Especially because I have recurring episodes of vertigo. Not fun. 

Because of this, I often feel more secure when I'm pushing a trolley.  It gives me something to hang onto. However there's also the fact that trolleys are kinda gross. People leave rubbish in them. Not to mention their germs. Add the pesky old global pandemic thing and there's a whole new level of super germs and grossness. Totally a word. I think. Maybe? Probably not, but you know what I mean. 

All this is to say that shopping is an interesting experience for me. I have spent a good deal of my life out shopping so obviously I like it on some level despite its challenges.

Just before the current Sydney lockdown I was getting into going to  op shops. I've always been a fan of them for used books, but now I'm also interested in second hand clothes. I can only afford cheap clothes which are often the product of sweat shops and don't last. Alas, op shops are all closed at the moment. 

The other option is online shopping. I haven't managed to fully embrace online shopping. I've never done an online grocery shop, even during lockdown. 

The other week our kettle died, so Mickey Blue Eyes went to Kmart to get a new one. When he got there it was a deserted wasteland. Meaning it was closed. Only click and collect was available. Makes sense. I don't see how K Mart being open for 24 hours is 'essential'.

We decided to order a decent kettle from The Good Guys via click and collect. According to Mickey Blue Eyes the process of picking it up  was convoluted. He had to wait in the car for an eternity. Clearly everyone desperately needs electrical goods in the middle of a lockdown. Yeah, that tracks. What else are you gonna do besides stay home and play with your gadgets? Or something...

When we unpacked the kettle at home it was smaller than we'd thought from the picture online. I guess we're just old, but sometimes it's better to sight certain items before purchase. Ultimately we decided that since the prospect of having anyone over for a cuppa in the foreseeable future is rather slim, a smaller kettle would suffice. 

Side note: we almost never have anyone over pandemic or not cause we're slack arseholians. Oops. 

A few months ago I tried a bit of Facey market place buying and selling for the first time. Quite the interesting experience if I don't say so myself. Not really a fan. Zero stars. Do not recommend. 

One of the things I've noticed is, I tend to take things literally. Another aspie thing. So if someone lists their location as Suburb X, I expect it to be literally that suburb whereas it could be within a rather wide radius. There are specific rabbit warren suburbs I refuse to drive into with the same commitment and antipathy I reserve for certain stores like IKEA. Not happening. Nope. Never again in this lifetime. 

I drove Mr 17 to one such suburb to pick up something earlier this year and I thought we'd never get out. We ended up on foot trying to find the house. No thanks. Again: zero stars. 

When I enquired about an item on market place, the seller pounced on me and tried to sell me a bunch of other shit I wasn't interested in. Then she was all cloak and dagger about her exact location. I get being cautious, but I'm old fashioned and like to know in advance where I'm going rather than winging it with Google maps. 

When I said I'd changed my mind she shouted at me in caps and blocked me. Which saved me the trouble of doing it to be fair. The blocking, not the caps lock shouting. Not really my thing. OF COURSE IT'S NOT! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??!! Tee hee. 

Then I decided to dabble in a bit of selling. I listed a coat I've had languishing in a cupboard for years. It only fitted me for one winter when I was on Weight Witches. These days I am a very bad witch. Picture a plus sized Serena from Bewitched. Actually, that sounds pretty awesome to me, just quietly. A plus sized Serena would be totally groovy and farout. 

Serena would be groovy at any size. 

Back to my listing. The questions starting pinging on messenger:

Can you drop it off in Woop Woop?  

Can you post it to South Australia? 

No, and no. Postage or petrol would cost more than the 20 bucks I was asking for it. 

I finally sold it to another lady, but as soon as I saw her in my driveway I knew the coat very likely wouldn't fit her. I'm not saying she's also bad witch. I'm just saying the coat is very snug. 

As expected she messaged me later:

It doesn't fit 😔

I said sorry and told her to bring it back if she wanted.  

Then came those little dots as she typed...

I tensed.

It's ok I'll give it to my granddaughter.

Phew. No caps lock shouting and no refunds necessary!

Not sure if I'm in a hurry to repeat the experience, though. 

One thing I would like to repeat is my Monday morning cappuccino with my folks as soon as it's safe. Fingers crossed! 

Hope everyone is staying sane and safe. And enjoying online shopping! 

Until next time,

Ness

Do you like shopping, online or otherwise?