During my high school years, I got involved with a number of clubs. After a rather awkward childhood, being part of the drama club and other organizations made me feel like I was a part of something. It’s how I made some dear friends and been part of people’s lives long after I walked across the stage for my diploma.

After high school, my need to be part of some club waned as I met more and more people and realized how much I didn’t want to socialize with them. There were a few exceptions, such as when I first met the Shawano Area Writers almost 15 years ago, but I’ve even cut way back on those meetings, mainly because of my job but also because some of the negativity gets to me.

So here I am, a lone wolf in a society of clubs and cliques and social groups. For the most part, folks aren’t falling all over themselves to invite me to be a part of something, and I’m just fine with that.

That trend seems to be reversing, however. I noticed it while finishing my shopping for the most wonderful time of the year. Most of the time, I’ve done my Christmas shopping online to keep out of the way of people. Besides the crazy eyes they get checking off their holiday list, it’s a prime time for cold and flu viruses to float about, and I’d rather not spend Christmas Day coughing and hacking.

This year, I decided to go one of the malls in Green Bay after my sweetheart, Todd, indicated some things he was interested in for presents when we went to the mall around Thanksgiving. I started going around to the various shops to get the presents for Todd and a couple of other people, making my first stop at Bath and Body Works.

After getting what I wanted, I proceeded to the register. Following 15 minutes waiting in line as the lone cashier was trying to deal with a refund, I went to pay, hoping to do it swiftly and be on my way. However, the cashier asked for my email as part of an opportunity to be part of their shopping club. I declined, knowing that Bath and Body Works was more Todd’s favorite place to shop than mine, and he probably had membership anyway.

My next stop was Build a Bear. After learning how to do my part to stuff a teddy bear, I went to the register to pay. Once again, I was asked for contact information. My phone number was not in the system, most likely because it had been ages since I’d shopped at Build a Bear, so the cashier asked if I wanted to be part of their savings club. Once again, the answer was no.

I thought that would be the end of it, but no. I went into Spencer’s in search of a gift for a friend, and I found it in the form of a T-shirt. As I went to pay, I got the same sales pitch again. Care to guess what my response was?

I only had one more stop to make at the mall, and fortunately that shop didn’t try to get me to join their club. I was glad, because I had enough of businesses wanting permission to bomb my email and text messages urging me to buy this and that and the other thing.

I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised by this trend from businesses, especially the big corporate ones. After all, the trend started more than 20 years ago with grocery stores offering club discounts on food if you had their membership cards. Otherwise, you had to pay full price while your neighbors with the cards got the cheaper deals.

As online shopping has become more popular, Amazon, eBay, Walmart and more have turned their marketing to bugging you with emails weekly, daily and even multiple times a day to entice you to buy their stuff. Social media tends to have more ads than updates from your friends. Even the niche places like where I’ve ordered cowboy hats and specialty T-shirts

The only bright spot of my trip to the mall is the merchants actually asked me instead of forcing me into the clubs. I guess I should be grateful. I’m not.

Fortunately, I’ve finished my Christmas shopping, but if I decide to go check out the mall again, I can’t help but wonder if I’m going to be invited to join the club again. Too bad there’s not an easy way to send a blanket statement to all businesses saying I’m not interested.