Store Rant

There are times when I just can’t stand Southampton, and nothing annoys me more than the twisted, money-sucking corporation that is the clothing industry. Pick a store, any store, and I guarantee that you will not find a single piece of clothing there whose price tag carries less than three digits. I couldn’t care less about brand names and companies. Clothes are clothes. If it fits, and it looks good, I’ll wear it, even if I don’t have to take out ol’ Benjamin to pay for it. Especially if I don’t. I’d rather spend that money on more important things, like food and bills; things that you absolutely need to pay for in order to survive (or to avoid foreclosure), especially in today’s economy.
Another problem with Southampton’s clothing stores is a serious poverty of manners. Poor unfortunate high school students suffer through the slave driving antics of both employers and customers. Just like Cinderella, it’s work, work, work, nag, nag, nag, without hardly a please or a thank you to get through the day. A friend of mine had such problems recently, when a woman came into the store to make a purchase. She took several outfits with her into the dressing room, decided that she felt much too claustrophobic, and so then proceeded to toss the articles of clothing one by one out over the top of the dressing room door. My friend, being the wonderfully mistreated employee that she is, then went to pick up the pile of neglected clothing and folded them all up again, without hearing a single apology for such savage behavior.
Like any high school student, the only reason teens undergo that kind of torment is to earn money so that they can pay for college, save up for a car, or buy those really nifty shoes sitting in the display window. Judging from their salaries, after a few weeks of saving up, they may have just enough to buy the shoelaces.
In our current economy, I can’t afford to pay the outrageous prices demanded of me. It’s just not possible. If my Prince Charming never comes along, I hope he brings a big, fat paycheck with him instead of a lousy old shoe.