Browsing.

I’ve always underestimated the joy of browsing, but now that I think back on it I’ve been an inveterate browser all my life. The earliest thing I can remember enjoying browsing is the supermarket. Aisles and aisles of stuff, mostly food, made my head swim and my mouth water when I was a kid. I was unhappy that my short little legs didn’t get me from place to place fast enough, so I’d break down and cry in the aisle until mom came and got me.

Later in life I took to haunting used book shops and music stores. When I was at university there were a lot of secondhand bookstores nearby. Between classes I’d head on over and spend hours poring over the books. I’d even buy a few once in a while. I don’t think I read half of what I bought, but since mom is a big reader too at least someone made use of some of the volumes that I didn’t get to.

Up to this day I like browsing, even if I don’t have any intention of purchasing anything. Some people get frustrated at that kind of activity, but it appeals to my planning nature. If I see something I like I can plan to purchase it in the future. In the intervening period I’ll do a bit of research to see if whatever it is is any good or if there’s something better out there for the same deal or better. Doesn’t really work for tech gadgets since they become obsolete so quickly. I put off buying a digital camera for so long because I wanted better resolution, more memory, more compact form factor, long battery life… and realized that the improvements would never end and I’d never but one. I finally bought my first camera in 2002.