As I am approaching the middle of this experiment... I want
to know how the merchant people survived.
How did clothing stores and shoe stores stay open when most people only
could buy one or two outfits a year?
This is the question I have been wondering about. I have now gone half a year without buying
new clothes or shoes (a record for me)!
I just walked through Target today… through the shoe section – and tried
on a few pairs… just for fun. I tried
them on – imagining how they would look at work… then sadly put them back in
their box. Knowing it is for the good of
our world.
I can imagine that is what women felt too. In the US many women were making more money than
they had ever made before – and yet for the war effort – they did not buy on impulse. They did not pick up that perfect hat or
shoes, or that lovely summer top new for this season. They (many of them – I realize not everyone)
would dutifully buy their war bonds and count their ration stamps for their
shoes, while sighing at the shoes in the window displays.
How different our economy would be if people did not buy on
impulse. The whole world of marketing is
based on people buy things without a lot of thought behind it. Would Target, Wal-Mart, or any other big
department store survive if people could only buy so much? Or would we go back to corner grocery stores
and independently own clothing and shoe stores?
Which way is better? If people
were willing to save up, and own only a few things – that have high quality…
could that thought end injustices forced on children and slave labor used to
make the things we buy impulsively.
These are the questions that I think about when I try on
these shoes… then smile, and put them back on the shelf.
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