Shopping is NOT my favourite sport. I like to do almost anything else rather than shop, unless you count doing work around the house. But for me, shopping for clothes with my wife is in a whole other category.

For starters, shopping – especially in a mall – causes an energy drain in me like nothing else. I can enter a mall standing tall and walking briskly, but after a couple of stores I’m trudging along like a soldier carrying a 40 lb. backpack at the end of a 20 km hike.

I don’t understand how women can shop for clothes. The options are limitless, and I’m just talking about the stores to choose from. In any given mall there’s an average of three men’s clothing stores, but there are usually over 10 stores carrying women’s garments.

In each store, there are racks and racks of clothes that look very similar with merely a pattern or colour change to them. But it seems most women have to browse each and every rack.

There is something about touching the clothes that women feel they must do. They have to touch almost every piece of clothing in the store. I can tell if I’m going to like something standing five feet from the rack, but women have to grab hold of each piece and look at the front of it … and then the back of it.

I don’t know much about women’s fashion, but if you’re a “winter” don’t even go near the yellow and peach displays. It’s a waste of time.

Women’s clothing stores also crowd their space. There are too many clothes for the square footage. For men, this causes a huge problem. We are left standing in a sea of shirts and skirts and accessories with very little room to walk around.

It’s in women’s stores that you find men holding purses … not because they want to, but because their wives have to try on a third or fourth coat just to make sure that the first three coats that looked the same were the wrong ones.

Why don’t they put chairs in women’s clothing stores, either by the entrance so we can catch our breath before we move on to yet another store, or near the change room so we don’t have to be called over to look at something?

I’ve looked at other men in women’s stores and they all have the same glazed over look in their eyes, like they’ve been hypnotized by bright blues, many shades of red, and green patterns on the blouses – do they still call them blouses or just shirts now?

It should be mandatory to put comfort stations in women’s clothing stores, like a play area for men instead of kids. You can picture it, can’t you? – complete with comfortable chairs, a big screen TV with some game on, complimentary drinks and peanuts while you waited.

I know, that’s called a restaurant … never mind. Hey Lil, I’ll meet you in the sports lounge around the corner when you’re done shopping; here’s your purse back.

Here’s the thing: When I look at my life, the things I do each day, places I go, things I say, God should rolls His eyes and be completely uninterested in my life. But it’s absolutely the opposite! He is interested in every aspect of my life, no matter how many times I do, say and think the same things. God doesn’t get worn out being attentive to my life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to stay engaged in an activity that doesn’t naturally interest you?  Leave your comment below.