They were the ordinary “Aeropostale,” boring “Billabong” or plain old “Fred Meyer,” the clothes I were stuck with. Sadly, this wouldn’t do for me. I needed the nice, cute, expensive clothes that were only bought from the mall. I mean my flare jeans, tee-shirts, and plain looking sweaters were alright, just that they didn’t suit me for the life of a teen. I loved how the cute hoodies marked with the sign of the brand on the corner of the sweater where it stands out showed that this hoodie, sweater, shirt or jeans, were expensive. What could I say, I was a teenager who wanted to fit in. See, in the teenage life, living in the twenty first century, new clothes, new designs, new styles, going to high school nowadays, it really mattered what type of brand you wore and the style you had. Wishing to become one of those expensive shoppers, I joined in the fun of shopping!

A freshly scented store, all packed into one single paper bag, stuffed with the most beautiful, glorious item. Each whiff of that paper bag took me back to the store I was passionate about. The strong fragrance that was indescribable. Overly priced clothes were a turn off, but the different styles were a positive. It was the way the mannequins lined up at the window. Positioned with one arm out, the other next to its side, legs in a walking stance, looking like a model walking down the street. They were just waiting to be dressed. Usual, colorful, comfortable, stylish, and almost anything described could be worn. Hats, scarves, sweaters, jeans, shirts, shorts. Wanting to dress them, I chose to dress myself though it was not the same since I personally didn’t have the right style or taste. I got the ideas of fashion from the mannequins. Happily, I sat on the bench watching the salesperson pick the scarf off the rack, with the shirt, skinny jeans, and high heels easily, to place onto the mannequin. If I were the salesperson, I would have picked out the boring flare jeans, regular white shirt, and done, but to have picked such nice looking clothes in little time, I was jealous. Every morning took me thirty minutes to decide my clothes for the day. It wasn’t I had a large variety of clothes in my closet, but I just never knew what colors would match good with each other. Needing the brand names, the mall was filled with all sorts of popular brands that mall lovers like me possessed.

Not caring about brands was my 5th grade status. Taking my time walking the mall and staring through the window, showed I had a fetish for my everyday clothes. Each person has his or her own likes and dislikes. The mall was the perfect place to find clothes just right for each person– not if the size fit, but if the personality had shown through the jacket I’d worn or by the look of the colorful shoes they’d worn. To get these clothes I had to have the money. Wanting something I couldn’t afford was a waste of my time. Dreaming about having the whole entire mall for one day would give me a lot of glee. As a second home to a few of my friends, I would say they are very much more obsessed than me.

My life was boring without the mall. Once a week. Every Friday right after school, a daily routine if you asked my parents’. This went on for two months straight. My eighth grade year had started out great. Becoming closer with my friends and to keep on spending money on clothes and movies. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when you think about it as a girl like me who doesn’t have a job, has one parent working, and consecutively spends twenty bucks each week, well, I gotta say this can ruin the amount of money we earn. What an ideal future, living off my parents! Nah, this spells ‘loser’ and ‘spoiled’ all over. Who wanted to be that kid who got everything they wanted? These were the words I would have to describe that one friend, the spoiled one who got me into this mess. I should probably blame myself instead but it was basically both our faults. Me, for following through, and her, for dragging me along.

Obsessing over clothes was not something I wanted or noticed. Clicking website after website after website. It was a craze! Getting caught up in situations with wanting more money seemed like I was addicted. I had become a mall junky. Receiving a text message: “Guess what!” Me: “What?” Knowing what to expect, the next message says: “Just bought a new Juicy.” Me: “Haha nice!” I was so jealous because something as nice as that was something I would not be able to afford. Finally, thinking over what were the good about having a new Juicy. They were cute, comfortable, and the main thing, everyone had one. The bad was, they were overly priced, they’re just plain colored sweaters, the only difference was there was a “J” on the zipper. Great, I could get one just like that for a cheaper price, I told myself happily.

I stopped getting caught up with wanting clothes more. I decided money and time was not something for walking the mall, but something important. Money and time is something that’s important to everybody’s life. It is life. Not something to spend, and waste. Deciding this, I settled to get something that would be just as similar than having to get the brand name. At times, just once in a while is okay to walk the mall to purchase something with a brand name. It was the matter of spending. My parents’ could have told me that. But I guess I didn’t listen. What I learned was that I have to live up to the fact that I can’t waste money for something stupid. Save it for something good and useful –like the gas that took me to the mall every week!
Lesson has been learned and I settled to never become a mall junky ever again. See, back when I wasn’t aware of wasting all this money and time for useless items, I heard a quote that went, “Living life to the fullest is getting everything you want in life.” To get this, you need time and money. This shows this quote is not the same for everyone. I followed through this for quite a while, but for me and anybody else who agrees with me I made a new quote saying, “Living life to the fullest is reaching goals that are hoped for, not just getting anything and everything you want.”