CATNIP – Malls and midnight sales

by VIDA MIA VALVERDE
Extended mall hours and midnight sales galore are turning to be such convenient delights for us consumers. No time for shopping is no longer a valid excuse unless you are the hapless laborer forced to keep store until your eyebags turn dark. Gifts that money can buy are found in shopping malls staffed by people with little buying and socioeconomic power so they are forced to toil during the holidays. Persons become mere statistics so that the consuming public can consume more; so that wealthy mall owners become wealthier. Such is business. Such is life. When you are not at the top of the food chain, you get eaten. When you are a laborer, you toil and meekly follow the powers that be or risk not toiling at all. When you are a mall owner, power lies in the extensive market you have cornered and employees and suppliers are your pawns. Of course, considerable investment has been made so it is just right to recoup everything and more. Even if it means straddling the line of injustice; even if it means that people become objects; even if the laws need to be bent every now and then.
It is a cherished principle in ethics that one who has more has the moral imperative to take care of those who have less. We try to live this in our small business. However, since our business hinges on the power of a mall giant, we in turn become powerless pawns which make it difficult for us to really take care of our employees. Delayed payments, undue demands, systemic flaws, red tape are all par for the course. We want their business therefore we just deal. It is interesting and galling to learn of corporate cultures that look so polished on the outside but is actually riddled with shadows on the inside. Such is business. Such is life.
A university exhibit that was supposed to be held at the less costly mall was transferred to a more upscale location despite budgetary constraints. The head of the project was dismayed at the nitpicking demands and the arduous task of getting arrangements and agreements approved. Next time around, the university decided to spend more at a different exhibit area than deal with a culture that was determined to make its reach and power constantly felt.
The extended mall hours, more so the rise of malls in the city and neighboring provinces, speaks of a culture that is determined to find meaning in things that money could buy. I will not deny the reality that my heart smiles when I am able to buy a pair of stylish heels or when I receive a nifty gadget. But the constant bombardment and exposure to the material and superficial leaves us with the notion that not being able to buy things makes us less. True, there is a sense of power and freedom when we can acquire more. But this should never be the overriding value of how we perceive others and ourselves. I was a bit saddened when the playmates of my 8-year old nephew kept on harping how rich he is. This may be evident because of his many toys and gadgets. Even children give importance to trappings of socioeconomic status and in the process lose sensitivity to humanity and the intangibles that give real meaning to living. It is scary to think that such children may grow up to perpetuate the consumerism that handily justifies,” Such is business. Such is life.” But it is scarier to think that those who currently have the power to feed consumerism have a hand in rearing such children. And we unthinkingly allow it because we get giddy over mushrooming malls and midnight sales.