I am Jane's two-cents

Have you gotten any of those Birthday rewards/ gifts/ redemptions/ rebates?

They're pretty common.

Sometimes, if they're really nice and generous,

they give you gift certificates,

free merchandise,

vouchers.

If they're not-as-nice,

they give you vouchers and coupons for other shops other than their own.

But most of the time they are not-so-nice.

They send you SMSes and E-mails and snail mails with things that sound like this:

"Happy Birthday! We at blablabla (insert name of company), would like to reward you our valued customer on this special day with a redemption/ rebate certificate WHEN YOU PURCHASE THIS/ ABOVE RMxxx at our participating outlets."

"We would like to show you how much we appreciate our customers by giving you x% off every purchase at blablabla (insert name of company) on your birthday!"

"Get blablabla (insert name of item or service)/ x% extra on your birthday when you purchase (some random item or service) at the nearest blablabla (insert name of company)! Hurry, promotion is only valid on your birthday!"

And of course, in fine print:

"Terms and conditions apply"

Let me translate all of the above for you into one nice big paragraph:

"Happy Birthday, dearest customer!

We at blablabla (company) would like to take advantage of your 'joyous' mood (if you're a lady above 35, please change to: vulnerability at this point because you're a year older and your biological clock is still ticking!) at which point you are most likely to spend exuberant amounts of money because you are simply ruled by emotions and hence, is more likely to cash out on 'impulsive purchases' which you obviously don't need. Let us help you to make yourself happy by allowing you to purchase our 'wonderful' products at a discounted price that sometimes isn't really that attractive but what the heck, it's your birthday and nobody uses their brains on their birthday because your system has to reboot and readjust itself a year older. Not only that, because we are so nice, we will also throw in some worthless stuff together with your purchases, stuff that you don't need. Yes, because it's your birthday, you're a year older, and hence you have more right to spend an even larger sum of money than last year. Happy Birthday once again, and we're looking forward to see you walking into our stores with a big grin on your face and a valid credit card in hand."

This, coming from a person who has split personalities:
One day, she's a shopaholic

who will travel from north to south

just to look for that one particular thing

The next, she'd be too lazy to shop

because she rather sit and drink warm coffee by the big glass window on a comfy sofa.

One thing's for sure.

When I'm stressed out,

at some point,

I'd resort to retail therapy.

The weirdest thing I've bought on that impulse

is two bedsheets.

Not ONE, but TWO.

Why?

Because I couldn't make up my mind.

And then I left,

feeling a little less stressed for the day.

I'm getting there. I'm going to be a cranky old lady.

Watch 2012 alone today.

Although I didn't much get the 'loneliness' I wanted so much.

It's just one of those movies I want to sit by myself in an empty hall to ponder about.

If the world is coming to an end in 2012,

there are somethings I'd like right now.

I shall save that for another day.

P/s: I remember there used to be a bully/ really mean girl when I was in pre-school. I don't remember why I think she's mean. She was never mean to me, but I know she was mean some how. Anyways, I was going through facebook (I know!! I broke my vow), and I stumbled upon her album full of our pre-school pictures. Funny how I still remember everyone's names. I can even recognise Prema in the photos! Except for the boys. Don't remember all of their names, but some including Adrian and Li Wern (who ended up being my brother's friends in highschool because of PTS), Chin (back then, if you didn't have an English name, you were only known by your surname), another Choong, and Iklis (whom we called Ikan Bilis, of course). Boys were icky back then. Who says they aren't now?