The shopping gene

[TCDiver1]

Sorry to invade your little chunk of the board but a funny thing happened, or at least i thought it was funny, in an advanced class i was teaching yesterday.

The class was discussing when we would start today and the determining factor turned out to be one student needing to shop for shoes. I asked the student if she needed new shoes and she said "no, just wanted to get a new pair." So here i sit typing, instead of diving, because of that confusing shopping gene, that few men will ever understand or appreciate. I found the safest ground on this topic long ago by not even trying to understand it, but one can't help but wonder.
How does one develop this trait? Honestly, i would like to hear some opinions on that.

One more thing happened yesterday, that again, i thought was funny. I was told yesterday that a wetsuit is an "outfit" by one of the students. When we went from colder water to warmer water she had to change "outfits" not change into a thinner wetsuit. I thought that was great and AM going to use that from now on. Okay everyone get your outfits on so you don't get cold!

 

[Polpessa]

Do you think the "shopping gene" has anything to do with the countless, endless comments, hints and suggestions regarding appearance aimed at girls and women from day 1? Family, friends, media... no wonder women are obsessed with their looks and the "shopping" necessary to maintain them.

On the other hand, I agree it's a drag to have to wait to dive because someone wants new shoes they don't even need!!!!

 

[Dee]

Thank goodnees I don't have the shopping gene! It skipped my twig on the family tree and my cousin got a double dose of this mysterious genetic code. To her, shopping comes first above all else, it's a mission for her!

Polpessa may have a point. This cousin was pampered as the beautiful daughter, constantly told how pretty, how well dressed, how special, etc. she was since she was born....expected to be the epitome of southern beauty and charm. Shopping is a form of maintainence to her. She 'shops' almost every day. In her mind, she has to keep a constant vigil in order to buy/have/wear to newest anything on the market..it's her job as 'woman'. Sad really.

Thanks goodness I got the more masculine need to have gene! Unless it's dive gear!)

 

[MissAmberDiva]

I love to shop! for anything!!!!! I could spend hours just in the grocery store.

I was talking on the phone to an old guy about going to the lake and diving with his group. And I mentioned that it would be a good time for me to break in my new bc. He asked me if it was my very first one and I told him no, that I have another one that's pretty new also. He asked me why I needed another one and I said-"because I liked the colors on it!" He thought that was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard!

 

[Tavi]

I'm here reading this and my wifes out shopping. No there isn't anything we need, but there is stuff on sale!! (I can never figure this out) (it shouldn't matter if it's on sale or not, we still don't need it!!).

Can the "shopping gene" be surgically removed???

I guess this is just one of those things I'll never understand.

 

[strfsh]

I'm happy to say I DO NOT have the shopping gene. I HATE shopping and the malls. The malls are the worst torture devive ever conceived. Also, a wetsuit is not an outfit. Geezzz......it's a wetsuit. Now I know why I have such a hard time relating to other women. I don't have the shopping or the illogical gene......LOL

Now there are tings I don't mind shopping for...like electroincs, camera euipment....usually the stuff that I can research and buy on-line. I hate going into the stores......Sport Chalet is ok....I got to know the people who work there and I usually see other people I trained with, but I just go there for the rental stuff....

 

[Dee]

strfsh once bubbled...
I'm happy to say I DO NOT have the shopping gene. I HATE shopping and the malls. The malls are the worst torture devive ever conceived. Also, a wetsuit is not an outfit. Geezzz......it's a wetsuit. Now I know why I have such a hard time relating to other women. I don't have the shopping or the illogical gene......LOL

Now there are tings I don't mind shopping for...like electroincs, camera euipment....usually the stuff that I can research and buy on-line. I hate going into the stores......Sport Chalet is ok....I got to know the people who work there and I usually see other people I trained with, but I just go there for the rental stuff....

I agree 100000% with everything you said! I do enjoy going to the huge Pro Bass Shop...they have everything for any kind of sport you do. Home Improvement stores is my first choice for dive gear acc.....clips, webbing, bungee, tubing, etc. And for some reason office supply stores are facinating to me. Most things I buy can be found at these 3 stores. Clothes and shoes are replaced as needed so only count as torture trips.

Glad to know I'm not alone!

 

[jbd]

falls for it every time. Mark up an item 400% and then announce its on sale for 50% off. Works everytime time. We have lots of stuff that we don't need and didn't want but it was on such a good sale she just had to have it.

 

[divemistress]

Wow, reading this thread puts me back in the 50s and 60s when women were nothing but a bunch of wacky little Barbi dolls who shopped for hats and shoes all day and served frozen dinners to their families at night.

Okay, the scuba student has different priorities than the scuba instructor and likely the rest of the class. But does that mean she really outshops them?

Hard-core divers, take a look around your scuba storage room. How many BCs do you have? How many regs? Masks, fins, etc. The divers I know, particularly the men, want to be the FIRST to buy new equipment. Which is why they're always in hock to the LDS. The non-divers have their boats and their motorcycles and their guns and six bowling balls and 8-gazillion-dollar entertainment centers.

And women who "hate shopping" at malls for clothes, but "don't mind shopping for" cameras and electronics equipment, or hanging out at home-improvement and office-supply stores -- you are shoppers!

Eek! All this illogic makes my head hurt!

Truly, no offense is intended to anyone here. It just seemed to me as if this giant anti-female stereotype was growing (and was being fed by women as much or more than by men).

Face it, most of us who can afford to dive can afford to shop for, and buy, some toys. Which we shop for. Myself included, 'though I too hate malls and clothes shopping.

As for the poor student who made the mistake of calling her wetsuit an "outfit", aren't y'all being a touch hard on her? Maybe she's unfamiliar with diving lingo, maybe she made a bad word choice which she's embarrassed about. Or maybe she was using the old-fashioned definition of outfit -- clothing and equipment. As in, "This store outfits skiiers and hikers. Big-game hunters get outfitted elsewhere."

When diving in warm water as opposed to cold water, I change more than my wetsuit: booties, gloves, hood, etc. My entire ensemble, if you will. My outfit.

That's plenty of steam for one night. Besides, I have other things to do -- a big stack of catalogs came in today

Judy

Who enjoys buying, selling and trading expensive European boutique perfumes when she's not diving.

 

[wackodacko]

LOL this is hilarious... ditto!!!

strfsh once bubbled...
I'm happy to say I DO NOT have the shopping gene. I HATE shopping and the malls. The malls are the worst torture devive ever conceived. Also, a wetsuit is not an outfit. Geezzz......it's a wetsuit. Now I know why I have such a hard time relating to other women. I don't have the shopping or the illogical gene......LOL

Now there are tings I don't mind shopping for...like electroincs, camera euipment....usually the stuff that I can research and buy on-line. I hate going into the stores......Sport Chalet is ok....I got to know the people who work there and I usually see other people I trained with, but I just go there for the rental stuff....