Six Stupid Seconds

Haih... WHAT was I thinking man?

I was in Centro today to do some quick shopping. I had 1 hour in between classes and wanted to be the first few to get my hands on some great bargains since today was the first day of the BRANDED CLEARANCE SALE - 3 words which make me go 'WOAH!' everytime.

So I quickly locked up the centre and drove 5 minutes to Centro. There were quite a lot of people there as expected but not as many to make it impossible to shop. I browsed through some t-shirts and was pleasantly surprised to see that they were ELLE HOMME. I've never owned an ELLE product before - not when a t-shirt costs RM 199! No way! So imagine my excitement when I saw the sign - '70% DISCOUNT'. Woo hoo! Shop! Shop! Shop! I picked out 4 Ts and tried them on for about 5 minutes before deciding to buy 3 for RM 83. Not bad I have to say!

Happy with my bargain hunting, I decided to walk further down to see if there were any more sales. And then it happened - the six stupid seconds.

My eyes immediately caught sight of the sign - 'G2000 - 70% OFF!' OMG! I couldn't believe it! I rushed into the shop and immediately took up a coat off the rack. I put my plastic bag down as I freed my hands to check out the design and cutting. I've always wanted to own a G2000 suit but as I pondered about whether I should buy one, my eyes caught sight of another sign - 'Pants - RM 49'. That's something I've always wanted too! I rushed to check if they had my size and tried it on. Perfect! Happily, I walked around the shop to scout for more bargains and that's when I realised something was not right...

Oh SH#@&$%!! My plastic bag! My orange plastic bag with the clothes I had just bought! I went back to the coat rack and searched frantically for my plastic bag. It wasn't there! I went round and round in circles. I asked the cashier at the counter, I asked the staff working there - nothing. I circled the shop again, rummaging through piles of clothes and searching the floor - again, nothing. Someone had taken it! WTH! Disappointed and frustrated with myself (and also the inconsiderate person who stole my clothes), I dragged myself to the counter to pay for my pants and then rushed to my car as I had to get back to my centre for my next class, cursing myself as I did. I didn't even have time for dinner anymore.

I shared my stupid (and expensive) mistake with my students hoping they won't make the same mistake as I just did. I managed to get over it momentarily and compose myself to teach. After class ended, I decided to call up a friend to pour out my frustrations (Thanks Doc!). After having a long chat with my friend, I locked up the centre and walked slowly to my car still thinking of my 83 ringgit. Later, at the food court while having my dinner, I was still thinking of my 83 ringgit; and as I was driving home after dinner, the 83 ringgit was still haunting my mind. Now, sitting here... I can still feel a heavy sigh in my heart...

Staring at the receipt, I calculated that even though I bought my G2000 pants for a discount at RM 49 from the usual price of RM 159, the fact that I lost my ELLE HOMME Ts worth RM 83, means that I actually spent RM 132 on my G2000 pants! This equates to only a 16% discount. Argh! How could I be so absent-minded? I don't know whether I should laugh or cry?