December 31, 2000 - Let's Go Shopping with Miss Velankanni
December 31, 2000 - Let's Go Shopping with Miss Velankanni |
Shopping, Shopping, Shopping! The kids love to go shopping... either to a supermarket (Nilgris) or for ready-made clothes or cloth for custom-made clothing. I go shopping to try to teach the kids the value of good quality. They need clothes but they go shopping because they love to go shopping. The problem is clothing costs more in India than in the USA for the same quality which is surprising since most of the inexpensive clothing in the stores in the USA come from the countries which surround India. Therefore, for the average ready-to-wear outfits in India are very poor quality for the price. |
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The most important purchase is underpants from a street vendor. When Vela and I take new kids swimming, I must always be careful that they have something under their pants to wear for swimming trunks. Only the expensive resorts and amusement parks have rentals for swimming costumes (as they are called specially for the woman.) so we must bring our own. |
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At first, shopping might seem fun. However, it has drawbacks. There are no prices. There is no comparative shopping. And the one thing the kids are not good at is bargaining. Probably the one thing I dislike most in India is the lack of price tags. Because I still cannot decide who is honest and who is not, it is very difficult to go shopping in India. Half the time spent shopping is establishing a price... and trying not to kill the shop clerks. The kids are so excited about getting something new, they become careless. They should know better. I have seen Vela outside a movie theater disposing of tickets we could not use (no seats and a minor riot inside the theater fighting for the few inexpensive seats left) so I know she is a good bargainer. But when it comes to buying clothes, the kids have no idea of quality or price. It is up to you to check everything for price and quality (double stitching). I tried one trick with Mari when I first met Mari. It did not work. Mari's clothes are always good quality. Her mother buys them. So I insisted that her mother come with us since her mother knows how to get good quality at a good price. Instead, Mari brought her sister-in-law and told me she was her mother. Therefore, we ended up with a dress which lasted only a few days... and I was very angry at Mari. It is disasters like this which help you understand India. Always remember the rule, "In India, all things are possible." Since her mother was not available, Mari simply found another "mother" to make me happy. Crazy logic... but that is how all things are possible in India. So just taking the kids shopping will show you a lot about India. |
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