Well, here we are at All Fools’ Day and I’m not even talking about politics–not yet, but the primaries are coming; are you registered?
Never mind. I’m talking about shopping today. Shopping for anything is practically a contact sport now-a-days. One lunch group at church recently got onto the topic of prom dresses…and young persons’ fashions in general. We were pretty much agin ‘em. Not so much that young persons shouldn’t have their own styles/fashions…I mean, we all had styles/fashions that we might well look back on with amusement…but so many of what passes for style/fashion in the current modes don’t do anything to enhance the wearer’s appearance. And once you get past the simple requirement of protecting the body from frostbite and/or UVA/UVB rays (or Bigfoot, for that matter), isn’t it mostly about looking good? Attracting mates or money? Presenting “a look”? Lotsa current”looks” just ain’t cuttin’ it.
And what is being paid for all of this finery is simply amazing. Three and four figures ($100-1000) for a garment to be worn for ONE evening (That’s not counting the after-prom festivities). Too bad my mom’s gone; she could have made a bundle sewing up that kind of stuff. Heck, I could have asked her to do my “show” dresses, but she drew the line at sequins–too fussy. Don’t think that she would have gone for cleavage either. Not my style, that’s for sure.
What are guys putting out for spiffy outfits anyway? The colors sometimes can reach for outre’ but the styles don’t seem to change all that much. A tux is just about the last word in “up scale”. No holes in those.
Shopping of an entirely different order was going on last week–the Geauga County Home and Garden Show was cookin’ up on Nauvoo Rd. and , Boy, was it movin’ the goods of all sorts–lotsa Amish vendors with lotsa items for sale–furniture and buildings, nutrition and health, crafts & handiwork, and FOOD of all sorts. My favorite was the mini doughnuts ( or donuts, if you prefer). I stood there and watched the ingenious machine spit out little circles of dough into hot oil, watched as the little circles puffed up into little donuts and floated toward the end of the vat where they got flipped out onto a drying rack to be covered with topping–powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar or fruit or chocolate or whatever. Must have been a good year for black raspberries last year; everyone had pies with that filling, in addition to just about any other flavor you could ask for.
There was even a petting zoo of sorts, with, of all things, a camel (which about got my hat), an alpaca, a sheep with lambs, a goat kid , a mini pony, a donkey and cups of feed which could be purchased to feed to the animals (The camel just wanted to snack on my hat–looked like a banana?)
Anyway, it was all fun, even the UH place which took my blood pressure and other vital info–not bad for an old chick.
AND… Do not purchase any suspicious candy bars from guys in trenchcoats on street corners. The KitKat people have reported some four hundred fourteen thousand of their confections were stolen without a trace. Krrrunch.
