On a Thursday some time ago, I grabbed a pair of pants off of a hanger in my closet to put on and realized they weren’t mine or Marcia’s. (We share a closet.) For some reason, it disturbed me more than I thought it would. To have someone else's pants in your closet and not know why? Marcia was already at work and I was not really sure how it happened. They were huge; the waist was size 36. I am a 33. They were nice pants--actually three pairs. But to have someone else's pants in your closet? I felt violated. And then I realized the dry cleaners must have made a mistake. And then I figured that someone else must have some of my pants, even though I wasn't sure that I was missing any pants. That thought bothered me too. I did know that not all of my pants were in our closet. I also knew Marcia recently dropped some clothes off at the dry cleaners and they wouldn't have been finished yet. Or maybe Marcia threw out some of my clothes because they were no longer nice enough to keep around. But what if they had switched my pants with the 36 guy’s pants? He surely would bring them back without having worn them. I planned to take his pants back to the dry cleaners without having worn them. I mean, they are so big they would fall down around my ankles! This line of thinking then got me upset about my tan Dockers. The zipper is broken, but somehow we took them and got them dry cleaned, even though I can't even wear them. What a waste of $4 on pants I can't wear!
I also get upset when I realize that I've purchased "Dry Clean Only" clothes. Why would anyone do that? It's so much cheaper just to wash them yourself. But all of the nice clothes seem to be Dry Clean Only.
The other guy must be a little taller than I am because they were 36x32. I'm a 33x30. He probably needs to lose a little weight though, because 36 is a bit hefty in the midsection, don't you think? I'm guessing he's some corporate executive that makes a lot of money. That would be why his waist is bigger than mine. He's probably real successful, which is why he can have nice meals in restaurants and carry a little extra around the middle. He probably wears that middle like a badge of honor. But I'll bet he can't do chin ups like I can though.
Today, we took back the pants and found out there was one more pair that we had from this other guy's order. We came home and found them, but this time it was women's pants. The whole thing was getting far more complicated than it should for a dry cleaning order. Size 4 pants, but a little longer than Marcia wears. So now it's a couple we are dealing with, and they are both taller than we are! Further feelings of inadequacy sweep over me. I then wonder if they are married or just live together? Marcia then got upset because she thought we had paid for their paints too, but I assured her that we hadn't.
Neither one of us had ever had our clothes switched or lost at the dry cleaners. I guess we still haven't--our clothes ended up not being lost--be but we now know of someone else who has had their clothes lost. We now know it is possible for us. Over forty years years without a problem, and now dry cleaning innocence is lost. When we finally got everything straightened out, they told us to bring back the other pair of pants--the woman's pants--by Monday, as if we had done something wrong. I mean, to put us on a deadline like that? Shouldn't they have offered to come and get them?
I also get upset when I realize that I've purchased "Dry Clean Only" clothes. Why would anyone do that? It's so much cheaper just to wash them yourself. But all of the nice clothes seem to be Dry Clean Only.
The other guy must be a little taller than I am because they were 36x32. I'm a 33x30. He probably needs to lose a little weight though, because 36 is a bit hefty in the midsection, don't you think? I'm guessing he's some corporate executive that makes a lot of money. That would be why his waist is bigger than mine. He's probably real successful, which is why he can have nice meals in restaurants and carry a little extra around the middle. He probably wears that middle like a badge of honor. But I'll bet he can't do chin ups like I can though.
Today, we took back the pants and found out there was one more pair that we had from this other guy's order. We came home and found them, but this time it was women's pants. The whole thing was getting far more complicated than it should for a dry cleaning order. Size 4 pants, but a little longer than Marcia wears. So now it's a couple we are dealing with, and they are both taller than we are! Further feelings of inadequacy sweep over me. I then wonder if they are married or just live together? Marcia then got upset because she thought we had paid for their paints too, but I assured her that we hadn't.
Neither one of us had ever had our clothes switched or lost at the dry cleaners. I guess we still haven't--our clothes ended up not being lost--be but we now know of someone else who has had their clothes lost. We now know it is possible for us. Over forty years years without a problem, and now dry cleaning innocence is lost. When we finally got everything straightened out, they told us to bring back the other pair of pants--the woman's pants--by Monday, as if we had done something wrong. I mean, to put us on a deadline like that? Shouldn't they have offered to come and get them?