Attachment issues

There are positive and negative points about most things, including shopping. This fact plays a part in where we end up buying things because, subconsciously or not, we compare the good and bad points of a given store and ultimately decide what we’re willing to put up with for the sake of selection and/or discount pricing.

Over the past couple months, I’ve found myself frequenting a couple of the “big box” office supply stores in town.

I like these stores because they have a huge selection, so I know I won’t walk away empty-handed. What I don’t like about the stores is that the huge selection that I appreciate is, more often than not, only available in packages containing quantities more suitable for a 28-person office, than for one person working at home.

The other day for example, I needed staples. There was a fairly good chance that I could have stopped at Walgreens, or even the grocery store and found a small box of the staples I needed. But that chance was far from guaranteed, and I was in a hurry. So, thinking it would be easier to go to one store that I knew had staples, instead of one that may or may not have staples, I drove across town to the closest office supply store.

At this point I should note that I went to the store that’s NOT part of the Staples chain. I mention this because my question about the location of staples caused an interaction with the sales clerk that was exhaustingly similar to Laurel and Hardy’s “who’s on first” routine. After we traversed that particular semantic chasm however, the young man was able to point me to the staple isle.

Here’s a breakdown of my experience:

Positive: I was able to purchase the staples I needed.

Negative: I now own a box of staples that, if so inclined, would allow me and my descendants to staple 1–3 items every day from now until the end of time itself.

Positive: This actually works out, because I couldn’t pass up the 2-for-1 sale they had on pallets of loose-leaf paper last week.