Gifts and Bargains

Hello once again. So now that the festive season is over I am back again to analyze some things. I asked a group of 185 people to write down 5 things in order of preference and in order of their preference. The results were varied. Some people said they liked the feeling of goodness in the air, others said that they got a chance to meet their relatives, vacationing etc, etc. But what really caught my eye was that among this survey was something common. An overwhelming 92.67 % had said that they loved to shop or because they see it as a great opportunity to spend. People go off spending like crazy during festive season. Things which they want, things which they don’t want and things which they would never want. The companies lure in customers with all kinds of discounts and to my surprise people buy them too. Companies like Koutons and Cotton County are forever on sale with slogans like “50% + 51 %, Buy 1 get 4 free!”. I think either they are doing social work for all the underprivileged people of India or they are just making fools of us. Let me tell you what they are really doing…they are the ones who are really celebrating. Raise the price 5 times n then offer a 50% discount and people too are very glad having bought those. Items are bought…some kept and some gifted are usually just stacked up so that they can be gifted the next season altogether. Even in these times of recession people don’t hesitate in spending through the nose. We go to malls buy because we have to buy a pair of branded jeans or accessories and shell out a couple of thousand bucks but if some one needy asks for a couple hundred of bucks we shrug away. How many of us have genuinely contribute to some social cause? We buy a pair of shades or watch and don’t give a single thought about the price, infact the pricier the more desirable it becomes and we don’t even think about bargaining. But for a rickshawallah who earns his bread and butter toiling all day or a vegetable vendor it’s a different story. We bargain and bargain even if we are able to bargain a rupee or two we have a sense of victory in our hearts. For me and you a rupee won’t make much of a difference but for them its every bit of their hard work. We don’t do it at the stores. So spend your money thoughtfully…spend it on things which you really need rather than piling them up and if possible help the needy (or better still bargain at the stores too!).
So before you go out to buy that new pair of Levis jeans…Analyze This !