Fighting Temptations

    Last weekend, I experienced the Animal Kingdom in its most primitive form. My location:  The Clothes Show Live, NEC Birmingham. On entering the building, I was met by a copiousness amount of crazed females. Young, old, and fashion-conscious; all of them glowing. Then I realised the reason why. Each one of them, on average, was loaded up with at least 6 generously-sized bags. Envious of the joy that was emanating from these women, I made it my mission to purchase me some hard-core Happiness, at whatever cost. So, I continued on, wading through the female figures until I reached the arena.

   What I encountered, however, was not the fashion haven that I was expecting. I had misread all of the signs of what led me to believe was a harmonic shared experience for females alike. Instead, I had entered a hunting zone; kill or be killed. I saw vultures, circling the stalls, patiently waiting to scavenge whatever they could. I saw the cattiest of cats displaying their razor-sharp claws in warning to the other cats. I saw tarantulas, spinning the most intricate of webs, determined to trap the most innocent. These were not happy females on a shopping trip. They were predators, portraying animalistic qualities associated with survival: hunting, trapping, and killing. Everybody wanted the best bargains. Everybody wanted to get their hands on something unique.  But most of all, everybody wanted to prove to themselves that this was making them happy, because this is what women should be doing.

   And all of this in a day’s work. A Sunday. A day dedicated to lie-ins and roast dinners. But these women had completely eradicated this preconception and showed no signs of stopping, even though they were struggling to fight through their self-inflicted pain. Yet, I had to admire their determination.  Each woman was committed to making this ordeal worthwhile. It’s a dog eat dog world out there and they had all risen to the challenge. Unfortunately, I didn’t. I couldn’t focus. My heart wasn’t in it and so, I chose to abort. Don’t get me wrong, I love clothes and fashion and shopping as much as the next girl, but not to my own detriment. Still, it was an experience, and experience is what makes us who we are.