Click 1, 2, 3, to the skies my returns shall go

Old clicking habits die-hard, so they say.  Last year, around this time, I was a happy little ol’ gal, buying all sorts of books for my Kindle reader.  My Amazon.com account made it so easy to purchase books.  It’s easy to lose track of how quickly those add up.

And it’s hard to remember what I read, let alone the titles of the books.  I just read one right after the other to keep my mind off of the weather.

I was thinking about my past and recent purchases today, as I mentally prepared to return the bikini – along with several other items I ordered on a whim.  Twice.

I’m on a roll, I tell ya.  I survived a cold winter’s trek to Kohl’s yesterday on my lunch break – to return a bunch of stuff that I didn’t need, or want, that I bought, even after trying it all on in the store, several times.  I waited patiently in line with other women, many well over my age, fluffing their freshly colored hair, in and out of warm winter hats.  I must’ve looked like quite the rebel?  It was sunny out, I didn’t wear a hat.

We were all there to return over half of what we bought.

 

 

…the “Twitch.”  At the core of it, a Twitch is a learned habit caused by a repeated cycle of a Trigger, Twitch, and Relief.  The trigger is the discomfort we feel when we desire something, feel guilty, lonely, insecure, or anxious, or a myriad of other reasons. – Break the Twitch

As I stood in line waiting to return items, I devised in my head an elaborate story to tell about how my kids didn’t like the stuff, or even better, that Mr. freaked out on me when I showed him everything, or that my tax bill came so I had to decide to return things I really loved, but just couldn’t keep so I don’t get arrested for not paying the taxes.

I would’ve blamed it on the moon.  But she didn’t ask.

The lovely return’s lady looked at me with pity, I think it had to do with my gray hair, after all, I was there with a lot of elderly people making returns alongside me.  Nope, she didn’t say a word, she politely told me how much was being returned to my card, and adjusted my Kohl’s cash, smiled at me as she returned the receipt.  There was a ‘poor girl’ twist to her smile though.

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Since I had a few minutes to spare left on my lunch break, and I still had some Kohl’s cash to spend, I took a quick sweep around the store to see if anything caught my eye.

When I checked out, I put it on my card – such a delusional shopper I was.  Now I’m actually quite upset about it, and not sure how I prove that the silly newbie checking me out would’ve been better at customer service if she had pointed out to use the Kohl’s cash I handed her, instead of my card.  I’ve lost enough sleep about it.  Grr.

But I digress.

I’d like to blame all of this again on the moon.  Because on the surface, the bright shining light of it does light up the room just like a setting sun does.

It causes me not to sleep well, and I don’t think rationally, and I end up with a bunch of stuff I don’t need, just think I want at the time.

And then I remembered I read a Kindle book last year that talked about what I’ve been going through.  Including the snow, in April…when I wrote about it here.

People don’t buy products – they buy better versions of themselves. – Anthony Ongaro

I couldn’t remember the name of the book.  I needed to know so I could quote the dude.  As I scrolled through the emails trying to find something that sounded like what I thought the book was called, all I could think of was “click”.

On the surface, especially in this month of February, I’ve found my way to the computer to click a lot.  Oh, my, yes, I clicked a lot.  Apparently, I clicked a lot last year, too.  It took a while to find my email.  Jeez…

What’s Actually Happening When We Buy – This is what I call the False First Step: believing we’ve made a meaningful step toward a goal, when all we’ve actually done is spent money. – Break the Twitch by Anthony Ongaro

This year, not only have I clicked for Kindle books, like the one I referenced above, but more stuff.  (By the way, last year when I bought the book, it was $9.99, now it is only $2.99.  Hmm…)

This month, I clicked to order the perfect bikini.  I also clicked to order several other items at the same time, you know alternatives to the bikini.  Just in case.

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I’m returning all but 2 items.

What was I thinking – while I can swim, I don’t make it my priority at the beach?  Why was I shopping at swimoutlet.com anyhow?  I did keep the shorts, and a bikini bottom with more coverage than the one I’m returning – you know to wear with my tankini I bought last summer.

I broke my buying twitch for the trip and made the switch to click the return buttons instead.  Today’s the second big return day.  ‘Cuz yesterday was President’s Day and there wasn’t any mail.

On the surface, the click of the returns has been easy, baby, very, very, easy.  Now I just have to get Mr. to help me package it all back up so we can drop it off at the post office and wait 3 weeks for the transaction to complete.  I thought the shipments took a long time…

Post Inspiration – Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photography Challenge Surface and Challenge – Fall In Love With Your Over 50-Self February #FILWYO50SF

PS – Have you read the book Break the Twitch?  What is your favorite returns story?  Do you ever experience “Twitch”?