Thursday, January 24, 2008

Reasons to Never Leave the House

It’s been really cold here in Portland. Not Minnesota cold, or Alaska cold, and thank goodness not North Dakota cold. We’ve had lows in the 20’s and while our highs have been in the 40’s, before you call me a weather wimp, let me add that it’s been quite windy. So, those of you in Minnesota, help me out here: Doesn’t that wind add a certain factor to the temperature. Wait, it’s coming to me…a wind chill factor!

Last night on the news one Portlander was interviewed about the weather. Her comment: There is NO bad weather, only bad clothing choices. Hmm. I guess I have made bad clothing choices then because I have no desire to step outside. It’s a shame too because for the first time in months, it’s not rainy.

I forced myself to run to Old Navy to find some church khakis for Jonah who came home with a hole in the knee of his church pants last Sunday. (Strangely, it was Isaac who had a scabby knee while Jonah’s knee appeared to be fine.)

Also on my list were a couple of sweater vests for church, church shoes and possibly socks. Here’s what I found at 3 different stores:

Old Navy—I can’t complain about Old Navy’s prices. I can complain about their selection. They must have been clearing out to make room for the spring line because, it’s 20 degrees with a wind chill factor and that means it’s time to sell bikini bathing suits, flip flops and tank tops.

Old Navy carries approximately 5 times as many girl clothes as they do boy clothes. I’m not even exaggerating. So, even though there were racks and racks of sale clothes for kids, there was very little square footage dedicated to the boys. (Like 10 square feet…I did the math).

Miraculously, I was able to find a pair of khakis in Jonah’s size that were, drum roll please, on sale. After the discount I paid $4.24. I also picked up a cute sweater for me for $8.50.

Ross—I don’t know why I torment myself by going into Ross. If I were to actually find what I was looking for, I’d be subjected to the world’s slowest check-out line. It doesn’t matter if there is one person in front of you or ten. It can be slow cashiers, customers who are arguing the last dollar off a $2 Betty Boop, sequined throw pillow or, heaven help you, both.

If Old Navy has 5 to 1 girl clothes to boy clothes, Ross is 10 to 1. What is the deal? Don’t the 7 year old sweat shop kids in Thailand and Bangladesh know how to make things for boys? Just to torture myself, I made my way over to where the boy’s clothes should be and found 2 racks with about ½ a rack’s worth of stuff on them: mostly jeans that would fit middle schoolers. I didn’t see any boys shoes.

Famous Footwear—With approximately 5,839 different shoes in the entire store, Famous Footwear had just 2 styles of boy’s dress shoes. One pair was black and shiny and stiff like plastic. The other was brown and thick soled, and would have been perfect for parents trying to make their kids taller so they’d get on rides at Disneyland. I got neither.

Back at home, I spent 10 minutes checking out a few different on-line stores and purchased 2 sweater vests from Hannah Andersen; sale priced at $12 each, thank you very much.

So, lame stores with poor selection, you have forced me to make a choice and I don’t choose you!

3 comments:

Senia said...

You are correct. A "wind chill factor" does exist, which is why it's been 38 BELOW here. Wind chill! We've been getting close to 0+ temperatures, which is very exciting for us Northern folk. Why do I live here? Don't ask me that right now.

P.S. I LOVE your blogs. They make my day!!

Afton said...

Wow! 38 below does sound pretty cold. I hope you are making good clothing choices. Isn't it interesting how fashion takes a back seat to comfort? Well, not so much comfort as just not getting frostbite. Good luck with that. I've always thought your nose and ears were particularly lovely. :)

megan said...

I agree...Old Navy does stink at boys clothes...and so does Ross and Marshalls. I like Target...even though there are still not as many choices...they have cute basic stuff.