Growing up I went to Catholic school, as some of you remember from a previous post. Summer was a time to not wear a school uniform, and it was glorious. Every spring I would go to Kids “R” Us in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to shop for my summer clothes. That is where my grandmother lived and she was also the person paying for these clothes. So I didn’t have much choice in the matter. For those of you who don’t know, Kids"R” Us was the same company as Toys and Babies “R” Us.
The store itself was pretty fun for a kid. I don’t remember ever having a hard time selecting clothes. I was slightly ridiculous as a child when it came to comfort. As you might remember from yet another post, I hated elastic or anything constricting. So for most of my childhood, I wore a lot of “soft” clothing. I was really into the two-piece set. Lots of fruit prints. Any novelty print really.
Now after picking out these clothes, we didn’t take the bag and throw it into the trunk of the car. No. We did layaway. A system of paying off a lump sum over time while the store holds your goods. I am wondering if some of you even know what layaway is? This didn’t necessarily mean that you were poor BUT I think for some people it was not needed because they had the money to walk away with the goods.
My grandmother would pay off the amount over the next few months and eventually we would go pick up my bag o’ clothes. Talk about patience for a kid. Truthfully, theses clothes could not have cost much more than $100-$150. It kind of illustrates to me just how poor my parents were. I remember them fighting a lot over money and my mom saying that, “Bridget would be naked if it weren’t for (her) mom.” But let’s not get gloomy friends, because now it is time for a FASHION SHOW!
Once back at the residence of my grandmother, I would put on every outfit and show them off. My grandmother was a housekeeper to my great uncle who was a priest. She was paid by the diocese and lived in his rectory for free so I think she had a decent amount of “fun money”, hence her wanting to help my mom. I later found out that a good bit of my uncle’s friends were pedophile priests, thankfully none were around for the fashion show.
So what about that mechanical sneaker I mentioned in the subtitle? Well, Kids “R” Us had just that. It was a sneaker instead of a horse or whatever animals you might see out there. This is a tough thing to say without sounding sexual… At that time, all I wanted to do was ride things. Specifically horses. But sometimes I needed to ride a sneaker because that is what you do when your parents can’t afford to buy you a Breyer pony, let alone a real one. Shopping trips were infinitely more fun riding on that sneaker.
Over time, I associated my grandmother buying me things with poverty. And let me clarify, she did not spend on me with reckless abandon. She bought what I needed. When I entered my pre-teen years, I just wanted to do a little frivolous shopping. Truthfully, all I wanted to do was buy things for myself.
I eventually did that. I started working when I was… 12? I loved having my own money. I can still remember my first trip to buy my own wardrobe in high school. I needed clothes for my public school’s dress code and clothes for fun.I went with my friend Phil. He was the first gay friend I ever had. We went to King of Prussia mall outside of Philadelphia and it was everything. It was a turning point in my independence and personal style. I was no longer bound by restrictions. Ok. I still was, but not as bad. Any financial fuckery was on me. And I did fuck up down the road but that’s another story.
If you were a layaway kid, my heart goes out to you. I am sure that we were at varying levels of financial struggle, but we have one thing in common. We never got to take the bag home the day that we shopped.