Remember layaway?

I think the idea has been extinguished by contemporary culture’s obsession with instant gratification and credit.

I bought my first fancy (long, wool, obnoxiously speckled) coat through layaway… From Chess King I believe…. or was it Marry-Go-Round… I was about 15 and knee-deep in the fashion experiment more commonly referred to as the 1980’s. *shudder*

Mom introduced me to the concept of getting things you wanted but couldn’t afford to buy all at once…
She bought most of her jewelry this way… As a result, my childhood was accompanied by the steady rhythm of bi-weekly trips to the antique jewelry counter at Famous Bar….

Anyway – when I made that last fifteen dollar payment and got that coat, – it was an incredible feeling of accomplishment… “I DID IT” I’d say checking my clothes in the mirror… adjusting my bolo tie…. *shudder*

My mom was instilling – perhaps unknowingly – an pallet for delayed gratification… It’s this appreciation for “waiting” that’s helped us survive the lifestyle change the econ-bubble-burst brought about in the early zeros.

Anyway….

Anytime any of the families would press for present ideas – we simply told them to get Best Buy gift cards.

We’ve been hoarding them for over a year now.

Continuing my plot earlier this year when a friend approached me to do some design work for them – I said I’d do it for free… and encouraged them to save their money for more important things…….. …. …. like house warming gifts for their friends back in St. Louis.

I’ll be damned if a chubby Best Buy gift card didn’t get FedExed to us a few weeks ago.

woohoo!

Just in a nick of time since our refrigerator *and* dishwasher had started what could only be called a strange, mechanical death waltz.

We wasted no time getting to the store and getting our new fridge and dishwasher ordered. (We already knew what we wanted since we’ve been technically “shopping” for them for a year).

The new LG dishwasher installed as flawlessly as it runs…. I can’t tell you what a perceived luxury it is for us to be able to talk on the phone and run a load of dishes simultaneously… (You couldn’t before… Actually if the dishwasher was running – you’d pretty much have to go outside with the phone if you wanted to hear.)

The fridge was a bigger challenge… we miss-measured and it didn’t fit… but that’s another story….

(insert clever serial ending here)