Delving into the Intangibles


   Anything but Love  
     
 

Just one click away from anything but love, or any kind of love may be possible nowadays. Agatha Christie might have written a murder case of illicit love; entitled “Murder on a Mouse Click".

But alas, I have no talent of Agatha's, so I'm writing here my "Amazon Shopping Spree Case" in which I have been trapped for the last three Covid confinement years. 

Unable to go out for shopping, I began ordering anything from household goods to groceries, books, CDs or DVDs, online.

Shopping with just one click of finger, which I have trained myself to do since the outbreak of the virus. Unable to go out, but by that chance, I have come to experience the marvel of online shopping fully.

I found myself becoming one of the online shopping tribeswomen. Shopping spree was not just for Chinese people.

Once I shop on Amazon, they analyze my purchases and offer me information on bargain products one after another, so I get easily carried away.

There are books, even if they are not brand-new, that have been disinfected, thus clean to touch, for just one yen. Shipping costs 350 yen, so I can buy a book for 351 yen, which is a bargain.

You don't need a wallet, you don't need to visit. The day after you order, it arrives at your home. It is in the mailbox.

Jeff Bezos and his wife started their online shop from selling second-hand books, and an old woman in Japan fell right into the trap of the business they built.

When I returned to my hometown for the first time after a long absence, I found the shopping streets, which used to be the most glamorous, have been totally deserted.

The culture of going out, dressed up in style, making small talk and shopping in shops has disappeared. Young people only shop at shopping centers and big, fancy supermarkets, and even old people like me shop online, so it's no wonder that the many shutters have been closed.

The shopping culture reflects the world. The only thing that does not reflect the ever changing world is the mindset of the owners of the shops that used to flourish.

Nostalgic shopping scene of the shop you used to buy from, getting tea and extras from the owner, has disappeared with sweet memories.

When I pass by deserted shopping streets, I feel some pain and guilt at the fact that we have driven them close and hollowed them out.

We are being swept away by the current of the times that is intangible. We cannot resist the forces that wash us away unawares.

I have to learn how to pay by card without cash. I'm afraid of a carefree way of life using credit card with no self-restraint, but I'm also afraid of fumbling for money out of my wallet to pay for things.

I hear that young people are quick to earn points.

At least I have to be taught that know-how too instead of free-gifts

Oh, God, I cannot go back!

I have to look forward as I'm led.

If I resist, the shutters will just close in front of me.

 
  K.Yamakawa -Founder Feiler Japan       
                                                                
      
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