SHOPPING

SHOPPING

Consumer societies have two elements on which society is based - material goods and consumers. The society produce material goods to satisfy the consumers. (the consumer society is a society in which material goods are very important and and in which the consumers themselves are important and have a lot of power. Consumer is someone who uses the product)
The first consumer society developed in the world is the USA. The whole life is just about money.

Shopping in the USA

Real shopping days in the USA are Saturday and Sunday.
Sales clerks have no union as in the UK so their working hours are very long and the shops are opened even 24 hours a day. They work in shifts.
open right around the clock = 24 hours a day

People look for places where shopping is concentrated.
shopping malls (in suburbs. )Shopping mall is a large complex of small shops and department stores underground or above ground. It looks like a small town, it has streets, avenues, swimming pools, ice-rinks, many restaurants and fastfood places, hairdresser's, nailstudios, place where you leave your child, cinemas...
Xmas - Santa, Easter - egg hunt
You can spend there the whole day.
The largest one is in Chicago, there're 800 different places to go, it's underground. It also has fantastic parking facilities, free.

supermarkets, usually a chain store, it has many branches (filialky).
Their advantages are large volume of goods, a big variety of goods and large parking lots nearby.
They can afford to hire people who are at service of customers, for example a bagger stands behind the cashdesk and fills paper bags with goods (the Americans don't use plastic carrier bags for grocery goods) Trained people, sort out the goods.
Box boy, box girl is usually a student. He/she wheels one's car, puts tha sacks into the trunk of the car. You don't tip them, they are paid from the supermarket. There are so many supermarkets in each city that they are in competition (some items for reduced prices, long opening hours).