You couldn't make it up dept. no.20: I know how she felt

[fpb]

This is actually rather more sad than funny. And I have a lot of sympathy for the unhappy protagonist. But it really is too weird not to report it.

A young lady lawyer spent the whole of last night in a motorway shopping centre near the historic ancient town of Anagni, south-east of Rome. She started spending huge amounts within the shopping area, first paying with cash - probably to avoid leaving traces; but she soon ran out and had to get her credit cards out. By the end of the night, she ended up spending over 4,000 euros in cds, dvds, books, cigarettes, chocolate and expensive foods. Eventually her shopping riot was stopped by road police agents (who, in Italy, patrol the motorways). They had been alerted by shopping centre employees who had grown concerned at the manic fury with which the woman did her buying. She was taken to the Umberto I Hospital in the provincial capital (county town) Frosinone, to wait there for her parents. They eventually confirmed that their daughter is affected by occasional "fits of manic energy during which she is apt to blow away everything she owns." This is actually said to be a rare but known psychiatric illness.

Comments

[dreamer-marie.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's a very weird story. I don't want to be indiscreet, but what do you mean by "I know how she felt"?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Spending like a maniac is a temptation for me, and the more depressed I feel, the more I feel it. Not to her point, of course, but still...

[camillofan.livejournal.com]

I find shopping-- even window shopping, without buying much-- to be a very, very comforting activity, and I am much more apt to go to the store when depressed than to seek any other consolation.

Then again, I'm not compelled to spend all that I have once I get there, so it's a safe indulgence.

[super-pan.livejournal.com]

Wow, it really something to be grateful for, to not have a compulsion so strong it causes you to basically wreck your life. That poor lady. And she must have been in bad shape if shop people wanted her to stop shopping that badly.

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they let her/her parents return the shopping...
Looks like acese from "The Man Who Misttok his Wife for a Hat"? Have you read it? Awesome book.