A Sunday Shopping Expedition

I've needed new sneakers for the better part of the past month.  I've been to the same store twice and both times they have been out of my size.  Apparently 9s are very popular.  

Today was attempt #3.  

I walked in.  I asked for a few different shoes in my size.  One pair was available only in an 8.  One pair was available only in a 9 1/2.  And one pair was - well - it wasn't a pair.  If my right foot was a 9 and my left was an 11, I would have been golden.  Curses!!!  So close!!!

At this point, sensing my frustration, the salesgirl suggested that in order to make the 9 1/2s fit, I should try them with an insole.  

In desperation, I acquiesced.  I tried on the shoes with the insole.  

Perfect.  They fit.  

And then it happened.  

She told me that the insoles would cost me $20. 

Now, to this point, I'd been nice to her.  I've worked retail more recently than I care to admit (I actually accepted my first, and to date, only Broadway gig from a phone at a cash register at The Gap.  But that's a whole other post) and I understand that it's not her fault.  She's got no more control over the inventory than I do.  But now I get a little bitchy.  This is my third trip to this store.  I'm trying to give them my money.  They've yet to have any merchandise at the intersection of Want and Useable.  And now they're adding a surcharge for their incompetence. 

"So let me get this straight, just to make it clear in my head," I said.  "You want to charge me more for a pair of shoes that don't fit me?  Am I understanding this correctly?"

She smiled sheepishly and said, "Yes."

I suggested that maybe if they wanted to give me the stupid insoles...

But that wasn't meant to be.

And neither was my purchase.

A little while later, I got a snapshot of our not quite yet recovered economy.  It didn't come from the WSJ.   It came from an experience I had in another store.  Apparently prices are dropping faster than Jon & Kate's ratings.  

I just felt like treating myself to a little happy.  So I stopped into a store and found a shirt I liked - $44.50.  Perfect.  It was right smack dab in the middle of Cheap and Feel Good.

I took it to the register and casually asked if it was on sale, "Because I would buy it in another color but I don't want to spend $90."   The salesgirl instantly took a coupon from below the register and swiped it.  My shirt now rang up at $35.  

"Will I still get a discount if I buy two?"  She explained that there's another discount for spending $75 or more.  At this point, with the shirt reduced to $35, I hadn't spent that.

She looked at me and said, "I ain't gonna hold you to $5."

I get the other shirt.  They both rang up for $59.

The best part of the story?

When I told my mother this, she instantly replied, "I'd have gotten them for $50."