Is Shopping Considered Quality Time?

By Karen McNew
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: March 10, 2008

So all of the immediate women in my family loaded into a mini-van for a journey to Charlotte North Carolina to shot at a major mall there.  When I say “major” I mean huge!  We would have needed two days to get through the whole thing!

After work on Friday night I drove the short trek from Roanoke to Blacksburg.. it was late but I was excited.  My mom,aunt,sister,niece and niece’s mother-in law were all leaving early Saturday morning to go to Southpark Mall in Charlotte.  It brought back fun childhood memories of when my mom,aunt, grandmother and me used to go to Gatlinburg for vacation years ago… we would always get up very early to get on the road. 

For the first time since my grandmother passed we were all going to spend some time together just having fun.  When we first started planning the trip a while back I thought for sure there would be arguments. 

We were running on schedule on Saturday morning - My sister,mom,aunt and me all got in the car and met Blair and Susan at Blair’s house.  From there we went to grab a bite to eat for breakfast and then we were on the road for a fairly “eventless” drive south.  We managed to find the mall and a parking spot and we were off.

Store after store we shopped… there was something for everyone… I was searching out deals… my niece, Blair was searching out designer wear my mom was looking for make-up.. my aunt, Betty Jo had a bracelet in mind, Susan was browsing and my sister, Beth was too! 

The only time things got a little “testy” was when we were trying to find a place to eat.. we all get cranky when we are hungry… and when Blair insisted I try this chocolate she bought that is called “Chili” chocolate.. yes it tastes the way it sounds… I had just finished sampling the most wonderfully sweet and creamy chocolate truffle when Blair insisted I try the chocolate bar she had just purchased.. here’s how the conversation went.. Blair- Try it. Me- No, I don’t want to.  Blair- Just try it.. it is good to try new things.  Me- I know I won’t like it… Blair then broke a piece off and handed it to me.. I put it in my mouth.. did not like it and promptly threw it in the garbage - so much for the great truffle aftertaste.. it was short lived.. but so were any negative feelings.. once I threw out the chocolate we went right back to shopping… once we hit the food court we were all right back in the swing of things… perhaps women are born with a gene that allows us to effortlessly survey store items, effectively size up whether we want them or not and then move on to the next store.

Toward the end of our shopping extravaganza.. about 5 hours into it… I sat down and realized I was beat..  What had I really done with my day.. found some great shoes on sale.. purchased some lip gloss and shower gel that I would normally have to pay shipping for when ordered on-line.. but more importantly - I had laughed and joked with some of the most important women in my life… we remembered fun times past all while making our own funny memories at the same time. 

Will we do it again!! Definitely.  There is no date set yet but it was too fun not to be repeated.