... with Shopping.
My company contracted me out to another company recently and I started this week. This new company's dress requirements are more stringent than those of the company who pays me, so I decided to buy some new "business-casual" pants.
I was scurrying through Market Mall on Friday, almost literally running through different stores, but I couldn't find anything. Then I stopped in this men's clothing store, Something & Sons' (not sure what the Something is), and I saw some pants that weren't too disagreeable. One of the salesmen forced me to try them on, and they fit.
The thing about salesmen is that I'm afraid of them, especially if they know more about the product than I do. Salespeople in clothing stores fall into that category, so needless to say, I was afraid of this man. Not in the sense that I thought he was going to kill me, but in the sense that he was going to rape me (well, my wallet). I knew that I didn't want to shop anymore and I found two pairs of pants that fit me and looked good; thus, he was probably going to make a sale. In fact, he'd already made the sale in my mind, despite the internal struggle I was having about spending money on clothing.
The only thing left for me to do was find out the price of these pants. This was a nice store, so I was thinking $50-70 each. Certainly, they'd be at least twice as much as my Zellers pants.
As you could probably guess, if you're savvy about clothing, I was off. In fact, I was off by a factor of 3. Yes, these pants had a price tag of $150... each.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?" is the first thing that came to mind. Then I said, "maybe I'll just get one pair." He, being the salesman, however, was able to provide some convincing logic for buying two pairs: "With two pairs, the crotches won't wear down as fast and you won't have to dry clean them as often."
Either that BS logic sold me, or I was just too agitated from shopping to say "no" again. Thus, I bent over... and pulled my wallet out of my $35 pants and dropped 10x that amount on what better be the greatest garments I've ever worn.
You see, his logic is BS because the pants will wear down at the same rate regardless of how many pairs I own. All I would have had to do is alternate them with the pants I already own. But clearly, shopping makes me stupid and hasty.
Damn you, Business Casual!
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Posted by
Johnny
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7 comments:
lmao
and what's best, is when you happen to spill something on them, it's no longer "meh," but more along the lines of "OH MY FUCKING SHIT!! I JUST WRECKED MY FUCKING $150 PANTS!!!"
yep, I'd say you're well on your way to Paris Hiltondom. One pair of increasingly expensive garments at a time. You buy $150 pants now, and next thing you know it'll be $150 pairs of socks. Then it'll be $150 for EACH SOCK. (Sorry to slippery slope you here)
if I were the zellers mascot, i'd lay down the law (no, not the "lowest price" law, the "holy fuck, you spent $150 on a pair of pants, TWICE, GET OUT OF MY FUCKING ZELLERS" law. if you don't believe me, ask the chick that helps the blind folks out. it fucking exists.
of course, I AM joking... but even if I wasn't, who gives a fuck, you're wearing higher quality pants. BIAATCH!
Yeah, I'd feel bad wearing those pants in Zellers - especially if I was going to buy more Zellers pants.
I really shouldn't have bought those expensive pants because I have a tendency to spill food. I definitely won't wear them to Moti Mahal on Thursday. Sweat pants + Indian food = no worries about mess.
I fear this will be a most unpopular comment, but did you ever consider that these new pants might be worth $150? I tend to find that Zellers/Wal-Mart type clothing is made with a lot less care. The quality is lacking, hence the low cost to produce allowing for sustained margins despite low cost.
I don't think $150 is a ridiculous amount to spend on an article of clothing... you just need to change the way you view your clothing purchase. Instead of thinking of clothing as disposable (ie. $30 Zellers pants), think of it as an investment (ie. $150 pants that you will be able to maintain for a longer amount of time).
Plus, the added bonus is that I'm sure they look a lot better than the Zellers pants. And if you look like a million dollars, you can command a greater amount of respect at work, and, perchance, a raise. I know it's stupid, but people are incredibly superficial, and will judge your performance based on your appearance... how tall you are, the clothes you wear, your weight and hair colour all play into these decisions.
So the $150 pants could really be viewed in a similar manner as a stock purchase. You may not receive any short-term dividends, but the long-term capital gains will provide you with a solid ROI.
(With logic like this, isn't it scary that I'm an accountant?)
Kim, I parially agree with you.
I think my appearance would have more of an effect on my job status if I was an attractive female who had a chauvanistic and sexist boss. I am, however, a realtively fugly male software developing intern working in a sea of other relatively fugly male software developers. I'm pretty sure they couldn't tell the difference between a pair of $150 Grafton & Co. Pants and a $10 pair of Value Village pants.
I agree that the pants are a good investment, not only because they're the finest and most comfortable garments I've ever worn, but because I feel faux confidence when I wear them.
If these pants help me get laid, I'll never look back.
John... I totally know what you're saying, but consider this:
If it DID get you laid, you'd probably be compelled to buy expensive clothes [pants] more often. Then you're developing a trend of spending money to get laid. Is that not somewhat equivalent to the concept of prostitution? Just in reverse... And it's all completely legal!
Take THAT, justice system!
You know...for me, if someone said "Buy these $150 pants and you will be hot, and women will want to have sex with you", I'd do it. Cause I suck at buying clothes. I need a woman.
I sort of did buy some for my job. I...probably didn't need to. I could wear probably anything and no one would care. Although, to some, it might look like I'm wearing "anything". Short-sleeve, button down or golf shirts. That's the shit. Hell, today, I wore hiking boots. That's the way it should be. I am so not a business type, and really don't want to get caught up in the politics of business. So maybe I should consider myself lucky that all day all I see are techies...who actually care more about what you say and what you think, than what your clothes say.
techies only care about what you say and think unil they have precisely determined just how much less you actually know than they do!
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