R-Hello everybody.

We’ve all bought something in life, clothes, food, toys,

anything, so the word”buy” it’s a normal word for us, something we hear
every day. We also know that there are more expensive products and
cheaper products. There are people who are ou some people are addicted
to shopping, people who let them eat or do other things just to save
money and buy expensive products. This type of person we call”
shopaholic”. Usually, this stage of our life happens when we are
teenagers. So, we are going to talk about "Teens and consumerism" and
we going to talk with Anne, an Australian girl who when she was 16 was a
shopaholic girl. We will get to know her story, what her life was being a
shopaholic and how she overcame this stage of her life.
R-I present you, Anne.
M-Hi!!
R-So Ann, tell us where you were born and how your childhood was.

M- When I had 16 years old me and my parents moved from Australia to

New York. For me, moving to another country was something that
changed my life and my routine a lot because I left my friends behind and
the lifestyle of New York was completely different. I remember that when
arrived in New York, I felt really sad because I had a different lifestyle than
the other people at school, New York girls dressed differently and they
didn't eat meat, which is super weird in America because most people
only eat meat and fast food. I didn’t want to be the weird girl in school, so
I started buying new clothes like the girls in my class. I thought that people
would only like me if I dressed the same way they did. At first, I was able
to pay for all my new clothes with the money I had left from my
allowance. But then I started to want to buy more expensive clothes.

R- I remember when I was 16 there was a group at my school that were

the group that had the coolest boys and the coolest girls. Were you part of
that group?

M- Yes, i remember that when i started to buy expensive clothes a lot of

people started talking with me.

R- Anne, your father was a farmer and your mother was an mc Donald’s
worker, my question is how could you buy expensive clothes?
M- Every month my parents gave me a monthly allowance and with that
money, I had to pay for the dance the acrobatic gymnastics, my lunches,
and my snacks but when the money left over from my monthly allowance
was no longer enough to pay for all of my new clothes that I wanted, I
stopped going to dance and acrobatic gymnastics so I could keep that
money to buy new clothes. The act of shopping and the feeling of having
new expensive things was very satisfying for me.

R- So you were the girl everyone wanted to be your friends you were the
cool girl?

M- Yes, that is true, but for me, it wasn´t enough, I wanted to be the most
famous girl in school and namorar com o rapaz mais bonito da escola,so I
started to stop eating so the clothes fit better. I decided to skip lunch and
snacks so I would have more money at the end of the month to buy more
clothes.

R- And about your parents, they never discovered that you were spending
money on clothes and that you were getting thinner?

M-At the beginning they didn't know that I spent all my money on clothes
because I hid my new clothes and never went home before practice time.
My parents only discovered my addiction when I started to get very thin.

R- And when they find out what happen?

M- They spoke to me and we concluded that I would have to go to a

psychologist because I had a big problem.

R- And did you changed school?

M- Yes.

R-When I was 16 years old I also went through what you’re going through
and I know it’s not easy. At 16 I wanted to wear expensive clothes but my
parents didn’t had money, so I started working, but my parents didn’t
know. When they found out they spoke to me and my punishment was to
go to school a day dressed as a clown.

M-ahahahha
R-Ok, thank you Anne for our conversation, it was a pleasure.

M-Thank you, bye.