Galleria gazing

After my shift on Saturday, I went across the street to theGalleria in search of more black shirts and more reasons to put offdoing my laundry.

I’ve lived in Dallas my whole life, yet I only visit theGalleria an average about once a year, usually not to buy anythingbut to look at the Christmas decorations.

As I looked at everything I couldn’t afford, I realizedthat this mall would be the perfect Petri dish to observe the humancharacter of the high-class consumer.

I observed that of the three levels, the top level is devoted tohaunts of the younger crowd, including Old Navy, Aeropostale and soon. I still believe these stores are generally overpriced but arenonetheless affordable.

Some of the people I see in these stores are teenage girlsdesperately trying to convince their mothers to buy them a $50 pairof fake jeans or a transparent polyester shirt with a 100 percentcotton price.

The other teenage girls have by either black magic or some othermeans convinced their boyfriends to accompany them to the mall. Ifeel sorry for these guys that lean against displays or sit outsidethe fitting rooms. Their girlfriends seem to go from rack to rackwith little consideration that their boyfriends came along to bewith them, not guard their shopping bags.

The stores on the second level sell the designer toddleroveralls that are good for less than a year, the kitchen gadgetswhose sole purpose is to take up space in an already-crowdeddrawer, stage make-up and stuff that will eventually go to a garagesale for 50 cents.

The first level is the New York wannabe level. Here we haveLouis Vuitton, BCBG, Armani Exchange, Banana Republic, KennethCole, Versace and the like. These stores are located on the firstfloor I believe, because the affluent dare not climb the stairs tothe “affordable” realms.

I see some women carrying their $1400 Fendi bags on one hand, aStarbucks’ latte in the other hand and nibble on Godivachocolate truffles as they walk into Saks Fifth Avenue.

I laugh. But when I think about it, it’s not that funny atall.

Something’s wrong when you need a $1400 passport-sizedhandbag that you flaunt like a status symbol to make yourself feelimportant.

Something’s wrong when you’re willing to shell out$5 for a urine-sample-size cup of imported coffee or a cubic inchof Belgian chocolate that has more air miles than a commuterairplane.

Something’s wrong when you consciously hand over $50 for aT-shirt, when $1 goes to the Chinese woman that made the shirt and$49 to the tacky rhinestone “bebe” logo across thefront.

And from the store I work at, something’s seriously wrongwhen you buy $200 worth of wine glasses and $300 worth of vases,throw down a credit card and comment, “It’s justmoney.”

The price of that $1400 handbag can help keep the refrigeratorof a Salvation Army soup kitchen stocked.

The $50 for the T-shirt can actually buy clothes, Bibles andfood for that Chinese woman and her family.

The $5 for coffee in the morning or the chocolate after dinnercan feed, clothe and educate five children in Africa for a wholeday.

And what do you need with all those wine glasses and vasesanyway?

I guess American freedoms have allowed us to grow ignorant ofthe problems of our fellow man across the globe.

We ask why hunger and poverty exist as we stare at the menu andorder both the lobster and the steak.

We blame the government for all the problems while we walk bythe alcoholic standing on a sidewalk in our own cities, hopingsomeone would care enough to invite her to a warm dinner.

And we change the channel because we don’t want to see theads for organizations that feed orphan children and counselpregnant teenage girls.

Suffice it to say, I walked out of the Galleria with nothing inmy hands but plenty on my mind.

I’ve concluded that the people who are genuinely happy arethe ones that have realized they don’t need expensivehandbags and wine glasses.

They realize that what they need has no price and that money isonly good for paying for their funeral expenses and leavingsomething for their children.

And they actually enjoy that warm and fuzzy feeling when despitetheir own problems, they sacrifice something they’ve workedhard for to ease the suffering of another without expectinganything in return.

I’ve also concluded that the only time that I would bewilling to pay $1400 for a handbag is if it came with a built-inLCD monitor, a DVD player, Internet connection and could get up andtap dance on its own.

Christine Dao is senior journalism major. She may becontacted at [email protected].