Organized Shopping in the Sky

by Kim Brewster

Ever present on most commercial planes, in the seat back pocket, is SkyMall, the catalogue for a captive audience. In it are items you may not encounter in your brick and mortar mall or unique gift ideas when shopping for the person who has everything. Many offerings purport to make your life easier and save time.

Got pets? SkyMall offers the latest in furniture that houses litter boxes, ramps for your pets to get on the bed (yours) or in the car and motion activated alarms to discourage pets from getting on furniture and countertops. Hope the four-legged friends aren’t too confused about where they are allowed to be.

Organizationally challenged in the bedroom? Not to worry – available for purchase is a platform bed containing 12 drawers, 2 attached bedside tables and lighted headboard with storage above. You may not remember which drawers your things are stored in, but the handy out of sight, out of mind reference comes to mind.

Unless you host a lot of backyard parties or work at carnivals, would you need a 53” high popcorn or snow cone cart? What is your time worth to clean and store something which can’t be disassembled? That 19” margarita mixer is starting to look good – at least it can be stored more easily.

After practicing EDGE techniques for the past few years, I sift the idea of potential purchases through buckets of a deciding model:

Is the item that has me salivating its purchase a Want or a Need?
Is it in my Budget?
Can I benefit from it Immediately and Long Term?

Often the answer is to defer the purchase to my Someday/Maybe list. When or if all my questions about the potential purchase align, it may even be on sale. Deferring definitely has its benefits.

I look forward to each flight with a new Sky Mall, wondering what will they come up with next.