Well, the truth is that I don’t like long, involved shopping excursions. Back when I was young  — my teens and twenties — my family members and I — sometimes including grandparents and cousins — loved to go to large shopping malls in other cities or even other states. We’d spend the whole day and truly enjoyed it. But I think it was as much the joy of being together as it was the shopping.

Nowadays, I don’t have much family around, and I don’t even have a desire to plan an involved shopping trip anywhere. I’d rather know pretty much what I want — and specifically which store has it — and just go right to the store, make the purchase, and go home. 

There are two exceptions: book stores and candy stores.  If I had an opportunity to spend hours in a huge book store — the kind with unlimited variety — or a candy store — also the kind with unlimited variety — then I would seriously consider planning and executing a more involved shopping spree — even out of state.  I could easily spend hours — and hundreds of dollars — in either of those two kinds of establishments.