Categories: uncategorized
Date: 02 July 2011 10:21:32
So the exam papers are a distant memory and I took a day or so's holiday. During it I decided to do some shopping for "essentials". There had been a top I had been coverting but sensible about in House of Fraser (only seen because it was on the route from "the nice toilets"). I popped in to look and discovered some amazing offers on some of the concessions. It was interesting because it showed that if you are careful it is possible to get v.g. stuff in the sales for the same price as M&S or similar would charge.
Looking around the shopping centre, something I don't do often, was a bit depressing though. The sales are ridiculous and it does not take a genius to work out why. The news this week has contained information on Habitat, Jane Norman and T.J. Hughes going down; the prices elsewhere show that many other shops are on the brink.
The truth is that the recession is costing jobs not simply cutting prices. All a bit depressing when you're benefitting from the price cuts and getting that buzz a good offer gives, but realising the human costs involved. Also, as Christians this presents a challenge I think. This does not give us the same challenges as whether to buy fair trade or not does, but it does raise a range of ethical questions which relate to the concept of ethical consumerism. I have no answers, simply a niggling feeling that our retail pleasure is coming at a human cost.