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The Empty Promises of a Designer Bag

How my former colleague managed to see the illusion of luxury

Adele Arbi
Curious Compass
3 min readJan 4, 2025

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Photo by kevs on Unsplash

The summer sun was beating down on the historic streets of Rome as my colleague and I embarked on a shopping excursion to a nearby outlet.

The city was a bustle of history, art, and culture, but my colleague had her sights set on a different kind of treasure: a designer handbag.

As we browsed the displays of all luxury brands, she finally decided to examine the racks of Furla bags.

“Which colour do you think?” she asked, holding up two bags, a black one and a dark pink one.

I, who have never owned a designer item, was unfamiliar with the costs. I glanced at the price tags, my jaw dropping slightly. Without thinking, I blurt out,“There are people in need who cannot afford to buy food that you could help with that money.”

The silence that followed was deafening. My colleague’s expression morphed from confusion to irritation.

“That’s not helpful,” she snapped, her tone laced with resentment.

Undeterred, I shrugged. “Just saying, maybe there are more important things to spend that much money on.”

My colleague, clearly annoyed, ignored my comment and purchased the dark pink bag. Bold…

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Adele Arbi
Adele Arbi

Written by Adele Arbi

A curious soul seeking knowledge and pondering life.

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