I won’t be giving any secrets to describe my day in town. Mom isn’t going to find out what she is getting for Christmas because I never found what I was looking for.

28 years ago I tried to buy black knee-high socks from Woodwards in Vancouver. The store we had gone to every Saturday for our groceries, household supplies and all of our family clothing.. The go to store for absolutely everything our family needed as we grew up.. They didn’t carry black knee socks anymore. They lost their way and have since gone bankrupt. When you can’t buy knee socks at Woodwards there was something very wrong.

Today we went to town. It was a record twenty-two stop day. Our normal number of stops for gas, groceries and Doctors was increased substantially for Christmas shopping. One of my ideas was to find a nightie for my mother. Long sleeved, full length nightie.. Not flannel, something soft and pretty.

We went to the Bay, they just had ugly. We went to Sears, they had heavy flannel. We went to La Vie en Rose, they had a red silk Santa corset (with white fur trim) . We went to La Senza, they didn’t have nighties but they did sell riding crops (??). Our last attempt and the final straw was at Target. They had hundreds and hundreds of bras but I couldn’t see any nightgowns, of any sort… not even ugly ones.. So I thought perhaps I was in the wrong area…

I found a sales clerk wearing a Santa hat..She was unpacking more bras…I asked her where the night gowns were.  Santa Hat looked at me like a was speaking Russian.. “A what?” ….. “A nightgown” I repeated. Santa Hat looked very confused and said “you mean like something long?” I said “Long or knee-length, I’m not fussy.”  Santa hat sighed “we don’t carry anything like that”. I said “so where do all the Nanaimo women over sixty buy their nightgowns?” Santa Hat shrugged “dunno”……

I’m thinking either all of these stores have lost sight of their customer base or my Mom and I have outlived our sleep wear choice… We are living in a flannel pajama era where post menopausal women with hot flashes are left to sleep in see thru baby dolls or nothing.

So I am home, I am tired and now have to think of a new idea for a gift for my Mom.  I am going to pour a glass of wine and try to understand why in Gods name La Senza is

selling riding crops

This slideshow requires JavaScript.