I know that look because I’ve been guilty of it myself. He was only about ten years of age and his face said it all. The last place he wanted to be was in the clothes section of Target trying on new shirts. Mum had other ideas.
It was yesterday and I was just walking past but I couldn’t help noticing the way his contorted face told his sad story. It was the kind of face that pleaded for the ground to open up and swallow him. Given the option, I don’t think that there would have been too many places that he wouldn’t rather have been. There may be exceptions but most young boys do not enjoy shopping for clothes.
Seeing that young boy reminded me of a moment from my youth that sometimes comes back to haunt me. You see, there’s only one thing more boring for a young boy than going clothes shopping and that’s going shopping for women’s clothes. No, I don’t mean buying women’s clothing for young boys. I mean being dragged along while women shop for clothes.
Mum was taking my sister shopping for clothes. For some reason I was tagging along. I guess that being the youngest child in my family I was the only one still too young to be left at home alone. So there we were, deep in enemy territory, and by enemy territory I mean deep in the girls’ clothing section. I reckon my face must have been displaying that tortured look and no doubt I was complaining about the experience.
What mum said: “We’ll go and look at some boy things soon.”
What I heard: “We’ll head over to the toy section soon.”
What mum meant: “We’ll go to the boys’ clothing section of the shop soon.”
I can still remember the disappointment of the moment I realised what mum meant. At that age, clothes weren’t something you went and bought. They were functional things that just turned up in your wardrobe.
Times change. I don’t mind shopping for clothes these days. It’s still not something on the top of my most enjoyable activities list but it has certainly moved up the scale considerably. I can still recall the time that the worst thing that could happen for a young boy was to open a Christmas or birthday gift and discover clothes inside. These days, I’m thrilled to receive clothing as a gift.
So to the young boy in Target yesterday, I feel your pain. Hang in there. It won’t always be this way.
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I’m not really sure when this photo was taken but I know it was well over 40 years ago. It’s me when I was just a few years old, before I learned so many of life’s lessons.
It’s good to be back home after a week with a very big family.