Today I want to reflect on one economic trend that has been perplexing and vexing me of late. What I have in mind is the growing number of malls in South African cities.
As a resident of the Jacaranda City - Pretoria - which has more than its fair share of malls, I almost need a software package to decide which one I should go to whenever I need to do some shopping.
As the residential construction boom unfolds, it appears more and more malls are mushrooming pari passu the residential developments.
You would think that having so many malls would make shopping easier than it has ever been before. But you would be terribly wrong.
Month-end shopping has become one of the urban dweller's major stress inducers. Soon there will be a support group for people who can't cope with this kind of stress.
And I am sure some of those corrupt doctors who issue dubious sick notes will be more than happy to include it in their catalogue of excuses to give to workers who want a free day off from work.
I for one feel like curling up in my bed whenever I contemplate the prospect of the jostling and heckling that goes on in the malls. These places are always full, be it mid-week or weekend.
You actually need to devise a totally different kind of walk to be able to manoeuvre around a mall if you want to void stepping on someone's bunions or avoid being an unwitting recipient of a sharp elbow.
I am fast becoming adept at judging the speed of prams and getting out of the way of rolled up Persian rugs. If you are not careful, your liver or kidneys can end up being skewered on a curtain rail kebab as you walk around the big department stores. We almost need to transfer road signs, rules and traffic officers on to mall hallways to bring some shred of order to the madness.
At least let's all keep left and give way at the water fountain circles.
The old excuse for all the shopping going on would have been that it is the bored, rich housewives doing it, but I don't think that alone can explain this boom. There is plenty of shopping going on and I don't seem to be a part of it. Where are all these people getting the dough?
The government renewed its declaration of war on poverty and unemployment at the recent elections, and I don't think its efforts have borne that much fruit already.
The retailers are certainly smiling all the way to the bank, thanks to this incessant spending binge that characterises mass consumerism. The banks are none too depressed either, as they rake in the interest charges imposed on those whose spending is based on copious amounts of credit.
All this reminds me of the cynical catch phrase I heard in the not too distant past - He who dies with the most debt wins! But does he? Or does she for that matter? The debt collector's tentacles have a way of reaching even into the depth of a dark grave or crematorium.
I think the expression "keeping up with the Joneses" needs to be updated now to "keeping up with the Joneses' credit". Just bear in mind that in keeping up with the Joneses you may end up reaching them, not on your feet but on your bloody knees.