Consumerism.

Time goes faster here. People also seem to look older, more quickly. Not only in Spain but in Europe as a whole, at least when compared to New Zealand. There there are less people, life is more tranquil and the whole way of thinking is different. Many a time have I heard that New Zealand is like Britain 50 years back, if so I don't see why Britons decided to change it and move on. You see, unlike in New Zealand where time is set by clocks, here it's set by fashion, the latest trends and what's en mode.
Everywhere you see this bizarre way of timing the world take place. On tv you see adverts that don't say anything but the name of a brand. They also happen to be the best adverts you'll have ever seen. Made with a certain artiness and with the latest technologies. And like everywhere, people pick up what they see on tv as if it were a depiction of reality which, in the end, they help make. My town Lleida has no malls, but allegedly has one of the longest commercial streets in the world. Ofcourse, as they'd say in New Zealand, it is world famous only here, in Catalonia. Because of the few people that inhabit the antipodes, I now feel slightly stressed around too many people. It doesn't help that all of them are participating in a collective shopping frenzy. They walk in and out of shops buying things they have and therefore don't need but here's the trick, they think they need it. Tv says they need it, through adverts and programs. The Newspapers advertise new stores that have opened and people flock to it, not realizing that yes, it will in fact be here tomorrow too. The apocalypse in Europe happens everyday when shops close. People's faces become sad, as if life suddenly has no meaning.

It is something I don't understand. I understand buying clothes, but once I have some cloth that covers my vital parts I'm done. Moreover, I'd never spend a day's pay on a shirt or some jeans, especially if I'm going to have to throw it out in three months time because it is spring, and we of course have to buy a whole new closet full of clothes that look just like the ones I've just thrown out... People here have been made into these prepotent beings who look down on you if you are dressed with the wrong clothes, last week's clothes. They feel that buying a new shirt will make them happy. It is only a passing happiness that lasts for a second or two after you've bought the item. Looking for the next rush they enter the next store and buy another item which also looks crap on them. But who cares if it's in fashion? It can't look bad if everyone else has it?
I'm sorry but no. I have been asked if I want to go shopping and I never buy anything. The jeans aren't made to last anymore, no matter the brand, and that jacket looks just like the one I'm wearing. When did I buy it? Two years ago. It does the job, it keeps me warm and waterproof. It should last me another ten. That is why I spend money on clothes. I wear them until the holes in the fabric start breathing themselves.
Alas not here. Time is fashion. People keep on trying to look as if they're 22, not realizing that it is about time to buy food and start cooking dinner. In Spain dinner is left til 9. I believe it is so because that is more or less when shops close. It is a shame that we cannot eat cloth because if we could Spanish society would be fixed. People don't have enough money for food or education but they invest in clothes they'll only wear for a short while. Capitalism reigns free and wild here. People shop til they drop, then struggle to find money by the end of the month. We are made to think that we all need this and we faithfully obey.