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Buying Behaviour of an Errant Husband

Buying behaviour can be crazy and difficult to comprehend.Look at this one.The fat lady was uttering frighteningly within my earshot," This Patiala wasn't good. I want a larger one". The guy serving her was stunned, and all he could mumble was,"This was the best we have sold. We will see how we can make it better". Then he vanished behind the counter only to return after five minutes with another stack of salwar suits- yes, you guessed it, yet more Patialas.

Till I went to shop with my wife this Dussehra, I erroneously believed that large Patialas represent a serving of a certain type of liquid, which only the connoisseurs could partake in the company of their best friends. Neither did I know how happy a shopping experience could be, for a husband, when the wife is busy buying dresses. I never knew ladies stores have become so advanced, that they have figured out the need and the mantra to keep the man happily engaged, while the wife keeps on telling the shop attendants, "Not this one, show me something better". Till they figure out that something better.

In my house, the keyword ‘Shopping’ is reserved only for occasions when my wife has to buy dresses. When the dresses in question happen to be mine, the terminology is ‘pick up’. Like this one, “Can you please pick your trousers in the evening while returning home?”. The semantic purely represents the time spent in stepping in and out, since it is only a few minutes between my entry, purchase, billing and exit. It takes a cube ( 6X6X6 =216 minutes or 3 hour and 36 minutes) of that time when my wife steps into the shop. I also remain quite curious, why after 3 hour and 36 minutes my wife is unable to find a single dress to her liking(they don't have anything), when in six minutes flat, I generally succeed in buying a pair. But as I may point out, if all things were known, the Nobel committee would not be able to award discoveries year after year.

Back to this Dussehra shopping.

So there are nice chairs for folks like me to sit, and a flat panel TV nailed to the wall, which is tuned to a sports channel running cricket reruns of India’s Twenty20 World Cup win. Wow, what a treat. And by the way, what a neat arrangement for the shop, both the man and the wife remain busy with their favourite past times and the shop cash register keeps running. Some understanding of buying behaviour these guys have. And as you would appreciate, it is evolving. Perhaps next time when I come here, their would be a bank of computers, connected to high speed internet, free to use for those who came with a wife . A computer and mobile accessories shop in a corner of the same floor would be an awesome value add. And if there are car salesmen showing off the latest launches and offering trials, it would be a complete shopping experience. Call this area Husband Pen if you like. Call it whatever.

Somehow I felt this time around, my wife’s shopping got over too soon. I am trying to make it better for myself by giving a surprise to my wife. Yes, I am going to give a surprise of her life to my wife soon by asking, “Shall we go shopping for Diwali?”





Comments

Sirpy said…
LOL.. very true. I ve went with my mom and her sisters (my aunts).. They take ages and ages to choose a single saree that looks grossly loud.. I am totally bored staring and faintly amused at the bored look on the saleswoman/man..
Unknown said…
Thats not good of you to watch TV instead of helping Shashi shop..you leave her on her own and then blame for the long time.When I go shopping, I take Parag's opinion and value it(for shopping only)and we get done faster.