Discount shopping is the reverse of my normal life

Aug 12 2005 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

Ready made meals. £2 jumpers. Throwaway homeware. Seasonal bargains.

What is so wrong with it all? They may not last long, but they vary our wardrobe, our home, our eating habits and perhaps refresh our way of thinking.

Having witnessed the wonder of Primark, which sells garments of ridiculous cheapness, I have seen hundreds of people enjoying the adrenalin rush of netting a bargain. We are a region of seasoned shoppers who love value for money, whether it is in negotiating a last-minute holiday or closing a hard-won business deal.

No wonder easyJet, Ryanair and other cut-price airlines find themselves at home in our airports. They share the same mentality as the people who book their flights - live now, save later, and enjoy every minute in-between.

There is, however, a divide between many people over the age of 40 and those below. Young people are not so sentimentally attached to their junk as many middle-aged people are to theirs. For them to be able to change fashions on a weekly basis may not be environmentally friendly, but is exhilarating at an age when being seen to be stylish matters most. The cheap chic of discount shopping is the absolute reverse of my normal experience of life. Wine lists, credit card statements and repair estimates are usually double my optimistic assumption. Flying to Milan for one penny (plus extraordinary taxes), or buying a pair of boots for £10 slashes shopping cynicism, and brings back the sheer joy of being fickle.

The more sober of us will link the disposable society with throwaway ethics - what you do with products, you will next do with people. I don't see the connection. It is all about value - value for money and what we value in friends and colleagues.

The perceptible rush towards instant results in many aspects of life, spurred on by our ever-present electronic communications, does not necessarily mean we have no time to understand the importance of trust or long-term friendships.

The quick fix may be derided by some, but many speedy results in business have brought results that have turned round turnover and perceptions in record time. Why waste time? A disposable society enjoys what it has all the more for knowing it won't have to stay around forever, gathering dust.

Perhaps we do it more efficiently, but people are now more shallow than they were 20 or more years ago.