Photo by Mathieu Turle on Unsplash
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that it became a health issue to get the keeper out of the REI store after he checked the price of a pair of lightweight pants for use on an upcoming trip that he and Phyllis have planned.
After his “Depression-baby” genes kicked in, the keeper suffered unavoidable sticker shock at an REI pants price–$80, that seemed comparable to what his father once paid for a farm: An odd assortment of symptoms included incredulity, despair and overall weakness ensued; and the keeper sought a place to sit down—in a model camping chair priced at the cost of a complete 1950’s living-room set.
Phyllis tolerated the REI pricing mode to get a “just right” fanny pack; and then she agreed to go with the keeper to St Vinny’s so he could cozy up to the clothes rack where he could have bought 13 pairs of pants for what one pair would have cost at REI.
He didn’t buy 13 pairs, but just being in the proximity of $6 pants served to calm the keeper’s troubled waters, and he showed his
“Greatest-generation” class by taking Phyllis out for a fancy Mother’s Day dinner—at Dairy Queen.
