Sears Knows My Secret

Yesterday, my family and I went out to do a little shopping. Shopping, like any other thing involving spending money, isn’t very common with us, so it was a good way to spend the day.

There is a town near where I live that I love to be in. It's technically a city, actually. But it’s not a city with cold, shiny skyscrapers towering over your head and crowds to get lost in. It’s a city that was built many years ago and it just stayed the same way. It’s full of tall, old buildings, long streets full of all kinds of shops, and murals painted in different places. Being there just gives me that city-induced-excitement, even though it is much smaller than any city I've ever been to. But cities are all so alike. The streets smell of food. Cars are always driving by. You feel insignificant, but in a good way. You find yourself trying your very hardest not to look like a tourist, but the architecture around you is so beautiful that you just can't help yourself.

My family was in the city to visit the pawnshop, where we checked out some of their guitars and electronics, bought a few cheap DVDs, and left. Then, we drove down the road to Wal-Mart and my sister and I bought ourselves brand new iPods with our Christmas money. As I pulled the stack of fifties out of my wallet, I found myself wondering if the checkout guy assumed that slipping checkout guys hundreds of dollars was something I was used to. I wondered if he thought I was just another one of the spoiled teenagers he sees so much of every day. If some chick had so casually handed over that much money to me, I would've never guessed that the only time she sees that much money was Christmas. But I guess that's just what everyone does. Pretends that parting with their money is to be treated with nonchalance.

Then, we drove up to one of the three or so small, shitty, deadbeat malls in our county so my dad could use his Sears gift card on new tools and new jeans. What a bore, watching people spend money. Yuuki and I dragged behind, laughing about random things in that way you can only really do with your siblings.

She pointed to one of the aisles and said, "Look! Blue paint!" We scrambled into the aisle, where hundreds of colorful paint sample card things were set up on the shelves in rainbow order. I laughed like a mental case, grabbing as many blue cards as possible, shoving them into my purse. I wondered what random onlookers would be thinking, seeing two teenage girls playing with the paint color cards like little kids. I zipped up my purse and we scurried off to find our parents.

Later, I thought of all of those colorful cards in the store. Just sitting there, waiting for someone to come along and pick one up, flip it over, and call the number on the back. A person who is ready to remake something, ready to make it new. It was then that I realized that just like how actual paint can change something, make it new again, blue paint can do the same thing to your mindset. And it’s always free.