Sunday, August 30, 2015

The Houdini Act

I ran out yesterday afternoon to just kick around in a few stores.  I didn't really have anything, in particular, to buy.  I just wanted to get out and ramble a bit.  I found myself in a store with a couple of dresses in my hand and began that big debate we all have with ourselves.  Do I want to try these on here or take them home with an 89.5% chance of having to bring them right back?  I decided I'd bite the bullet and head to the fitting room.

I put the first dress on and everything was going smoothly.  It fit and I liked the way it looked on me, so I put it back on the hanger and grabbed the next one.  I put my arms up and pulled it over my head and could tell right away that it wasn't going to work for me.  You know that snug feeling you get when something just isn't going to accommodate your girth.  Kind of like a swaddled baby only not near as content.  Perhaps it would work if, say, you didn't have to inhale or exhale, but since that's preferable, you know it won't be going home with you.  It will have to continue to hang on the rack and wait for a smaller, more wispy girl to come along. 

So, anyway, I start taking it off and make it all the way up to my upper arms and then it happened.  The dress got stuck around my shoulders.  I couldn't go up with it and I couldn't go down with it.  I was trapped.  They say that the shoulders are the most difficult to expel through the birth canal during labor and I can attest that this same general rule also applies when attempting to pass through an ill-fitting dress.  Perhaps, a pair of forceps would have been a welcomed sight at this point in the story, but I digress. 

My arms were bound to my body by the dress and I couldn't do anything.  I'm familiar with the "You break it, you buy it" policy, but I wondered, as I stood in the dressing room clothed only from the shoulders up, what the standard procedure is for customers who get stuck in things.  You become lodged in it, you buy it?  If only there had been someone with me, who could've come and pulled me out.  There was a lady in the fitting room next to mine, but exposing yourself to a complete stranger from the shoulders down is generally not something that is well received. 

The temperature in the dressing room suddenly began to shoot up about 20 degrees and I started to have difficulty getting a deep breath.  Panic had set in.  I have a slight case of claustrophobia, you see.  I decided to just stop and take some slow, deep relaxation breaths before I made another attempt to escape from the dress now turned tourniquet.  It was important that I keep a sufficient oxygen level in order to maintain consciousness as I tried to imagine an attendant finding me on the floor with the dress around my head and how that whole scenario would sound on the police scanner.  I was starting to feel like the Great Houdini......only right side up and not nearly as magical or impressive. 


After regaining my composure, a couple of more attempts and a mile of stretched threads later, I did finally free myself from the situation and am still here to tell about it.  I know you're all glad of that since this is such a riveting tale.   I'm sure the wispy girl and the dress will be happy together.  I trust that she will find the seams to be good and broken in now. 


Why do I tell you this story, you ask? 

I have no idea.

But, surely, there is a moral in there somewhere that I can dig out for us all- no matter our situation.......

When life is squeezing you....I mean, really, really squeezing you.  When it has you in a very tight spot and you feel so small and dainty up next to your problem, always remember...
never underestimate yourself, you are bigger than you think.   

Amen and amen.   

Have a great Monday, people.        

10 comments:

  1. Very funny post. Just came across your blog and have spent the past half hour reading your very clever posts. I will definitely be back. Have a great week.

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    1. Katie, you will love Joni's blog....I've been reading her for a while now and she's a girl after my own heart!

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    2. Oh, thank you Katie! I'm so glad you found me! Please, come back!

      And thank you, Judy! I appreciate you, too! And, yes, I feel like you and I are a lot alike! Bless your heart. :)

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  2. Yep, been there Joni, hoping you don't rip what you tried on. Bought a pair of shorts on sale yesterday, thinking it was one size to big, uh nope, fits perfectly, sob! Have a great day Joni, just think! tomorrow is the first of September, think drier and cooler weather! Fall! Kathleen in Az

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    1. Don't you hate that, Kathleen? I'm sure they were just mis-sized! That's what I always tell myself, at least. And you can't even imagine how excited I was to turn the calendar over to September! Better days are ahead!!

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  3. Hahaha! I think we've all been there unless we are a size 0. I have had to learn the hard way and on repeated occasions that the cap sleeve is not something I'm ever going to be able to wear because it does have to come off of my body at some point.

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    1. Hahaha.....the ol' cap sleeve will get you every time, April. It was a 3/4 length sleeve that wouldn't let me out! Scary times. Scary times, indeed.

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  4. This has happened to me too a few times. What a predicament to be in! At least you made it out alive and lived to tell the story (LOL)! Hope you have a wonderful week my friend.

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    1. Yes, I'm happy to still be here, Judy :) I hope you have a great Labor Day weekend with your family!

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  5. This made me chuckle out loud in my office. I have been there before so totally understand! Thanks for the Friday morning laugh. As you can see, I'm a little behind in my blog reading....

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