What a cruel, cruel joke to play on someone. It's inhumane, really.
Yesterday I received a Crate & Barrel catalog in the mail. I love Crate & Barrel! I took some time off and kicked back with the dogs, lovingly leafing through page after page of sleek and stylish furniture and housewares. It was torture. Why? Because the nearest Crate & Barrel is 100 miles away in Beverly Hills.
I have no idea why I received it or how I got on the mailing list at this address. What kind of monster would do that to me?
Oh sure, you can shop online. Doesn't that sound like fun? Point, click, point, click. That isn't shopping, it's data entry.
When we first moved here, on my first trip to the local supermarket, my hopes were raised when I saw a huge display rack of gift cards. Nordstroms, Bloomingdales, Saks, H&M... Bakersfield couldn't be all THAT bad if it had all these stores.
But it doesn't. To use the cards you either have to shop online or hit the road.
In Bakersfield, it's either WalMart, or the highway. Literally.
"Oh yeah, shopping here sucks" one of my Gossip Girl lunch buddies confirmed over chicken tenders yesterday. "Most people drive into LA once a month to get what they need."
I think that would qualify as a humanitarian mission.
And it's true. Every time we've driven back into town from a weekend away, we pass or are passed by mammoth SUVs, packed to the headliners with shopping bags from all the best LA malls.
You would think the big retailers might throw us a bone. How about a Nordstrom Rack for God's sake? Anything. Or how about an outlet mall? How come you can shop at an Armani Exchange or Barney's in Cabazon, in the middle of the freakin' desert, and all we're stuck with is Ed Hardy rejects at what passes for a Macy's here. It's just sad.
