On December 13-14 there was a factory sale. THE factory sale of the year: UMBRA! Umbra Inc. is a manufacturer of stylish home designs, at competitive prices. They are known for their artistic frames, found at most home stores today.

Consumers mostly purchase their products through resellers like The Bay, Home Company or Blacks, however this weekend they were having their own blowout. Held at the automotive centre at the CNE, shoppers line up for HOURS to get into this factory sale.

My friend and I got up at 5:15 a.m. to line up. We arrived at around 6 a.m., with quite a line having already materialized in front of us. It was pretty damn cold, and I knew this from last year's sale, so this time layered up.. and boy did I layer! for once i actually filled out my coat, and looked (dare i say) a bit squeezable! :)

ANYWAY, with 2 pairs of pants and socks, 2 undershirts, a long sleeve tee, cashmere sweater, cotton sweater, scarf, hat, and 2 pairs of gloves (1 fleece inside smoking gloves), I was ready to tackle Mr. Frost! I am proud b/c i made it lining up from 6-9 a.m. doors opening without having to go inside for warmth. I wasn't too cold actually, and got used to it after awhile. If i went inside, i would have to reintegrate myself with the cold weather again so it wouldn't be worth it.

Overall the sale was worth it. It was fun to meet some nice ladies in line with us (some from Windsor), as well as go and run to get some of the hot stuff that would go fast. I spend around $160, but after sorting out the things that ppl gave me money for, presents for xmas/bdays, i was left with 2 picture frames and a coat hook for my door! heh.

My Achilles Heel...
What truly bothered me about this event was my level of materialism, forgetting what's more important: helping out others. See, while we were in line, we met this really nice couple who were big travelers. They've been out east to Thailand, and in fact had an AMAZING side bag from diesel that she got for $7 US there! I was so jealous.

While we were in line, apparently this pretentious group of sassy trendy mid-twenties tiger striped/highlighted hair with shimmering makeup designer clothing cut in line at around 8:30, just before opening. Of course, the line had gone WAY WAYWAY back, with at least 500 ppl behind us. We knew who had been in line, since we had all been standing for the past 3 hours together! So one of the ladies (the traveler) was very strong and went over to tell them to get out of line. Usually when someone does that and spots the culprit out, they leave.. but these kids just ignored her.

At 9 a.m. we started to go in, and in the front there were some security guards where she told them that this group had bud in line. I was more about principle than a selfish "i wanna get these kids" action. But what happened was that all of us just got so excited about getting in, we left her basically alone with her poor husband to stand against these people. What killed me was that after I heard that they started to really verbally attack her and cause a huge scene. She was outnumbered, when before we were the ones that out-numbered them. This poor woman may not come back next year b/c of the bad experience that she had.

How bad is that? Isn't that disgusting? The one Heroine of the group is the one who took all the beats for all of us. She was crucified by these kids, while we just left thinking, "Wow, she's doing a great thing.. see ya!". I dono.. I just feel horrible at myself b/c i got so caught up in UMBRA products that I forgot about helping out someone in need, as well as for general backup--a wingman if you will. I know how hard it is to do things like that.

E.g. When ppl CLEARLY have more than 8 items in the 1-8 items section of the grocery line. Not many ppl say anything, and the cashier will just tell them "oh, this is 1-8 items, pls go to the other lines next time." Ha. As if it was a "mistake". Please. As behaviourist Goffman would note, we as a society are averse to breaching social norms that in this case would be saying something and "causing a scene." Ppl usually just suck it up, and tell their friends about this "fucking bitch woman" who budded in line after...

I try and say something when people become disrepectful (for example in the 1-8 items line example). At least so this person is aware of their selfishness, and lack of respect for others. This umbra incident is another perfect example of where I would want to be apart of the action, or at least lend some backup. But instead, i was only focusing on running in and getting the best picture frames and home products before they're taken. UMBRA is definitely the pinnacle of my materialism. I don't think i get so caught up over any other brands like this. ARUGH!

So i'm actually a bit happy that I didn't end up with too much of the $160 that i spent. I didn't NEED anything per se, unlike my friend who did need a lot of stuff for her new bathroom. Ah well. I really did learn a lot from the experience, and hope that I don't let my impulsive Id (refering to Freudian's theory of self) take the best of me in similar situations in the future.

Take care,

RE

"please forgive me if i act a little strange, for i know not what i do" -D.Gray