Retail Therapy
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an excerpt:
I like to buy things just as much as the next girl, obviously, and I’ve certainly gone in for a little retail shopping therapy now and then. But, I have another perspective on Retail Therapy. For me, this idea started when I realized how many of my customers were telling me extremely personal things about themselves. Why were they doing this? Is this normal?
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steadily skipping stones 
I wonder if it is because we all live disconnected lives now. Didn’t people visit more, on porches or on Main Street? Now, it’s “sorry, I must run” from friends. I think that leaves people lonely.
I think that it must play some part in it. I’m not always inclined to ‘spill my guts’ to cashiers, for example. When I catch myself doing it, I try to figure out why, and I think that almost always has a role. Either I’ve been off of work a few days, or I haven’t talked to my family in a while. I rarely get to actually have a real conversation with my friends anymore – it’s rather sad, really. So I do think feeling, or being, disconnected has something to do with it.
But there can be more to it. For the people who divulge really personal, messy stuff, I always get the feeling that they just need to talk. Whatever it is is weighing on them, it’s right there at the surface. Maybe they are talking about it to everyone, maybe they just have to until it’s worked out of their system – that’s something I have no way of knowing. Maybe it’s just me (my Dad says it’s me, that this doesn’t happen to all people in retail, but I don’t know).