Am not a big shopper, to be honest USC confused me,
it was just heaps of clothes on racks so tightly packed I felt like I was screaming through a bad denim jumble sale nightmare. Then the music blared
and I felt like I was lost in a bright unfriendly disco.
I even saw
jeans that were destined to fit a man with bow legs as if he just leapt off a
horse and of course my non fashion brain made me giggle at them. 'Who would buy them' I shouted over the music
just as a young man bought them and glared at me.
Ashley went to the sports shoe bit, tried on a few trainers
and liked the Adidas high tops, she handed me the one she tried and I went off
to find out how to get the other shoe. I
did not know how to pay for stuff in USC; I have never been to university or
took the class that shows how to do that.
There are no signs, but why would there be...it's
like a really hip party and am the old woman who comes in and asks them if they
have any Donny Osmond on their big music player.
I spotted an achingly hip bored guy with lovely
sideways combed and gelled hair in bow legged jeans (that looked lovely on) and
he made brief enough eye contact to assure me he was staff. I held out the
shoe, went onto explain "my daughter likes these can we try the other
one....." He looked through me like
I was already dead to him. I was going
to say I had heard Nirvana but I don't think he was alive when they were alive
and I had no other musical reference point to bring up, he grabbed the shoe and
turned on his heel.
He was off...not a word of explanation about
anything, just up the escalator leaving me stranded near a couple of young
French guys who liked the looked of the bandy legged jeans. The staff guy (let
me call him Todd, he looks like a Todd who is into skateboarding and ironic
ukulele parties) anyway Todd is now off with the shoe- upstairs as if he is in
search of a one legged Cinderella who
was into sportswear, she was hiding
upstairs, she was making Todd work for her affections.
"Shall I wait here? Are you coming back down? Where
do I go?" were many of the questions I whispered as Todd vanished.
I wandered about the store wondering how to approach
the fact I gave a man a shoe and he vanished without trace. Was I a hex?
Ashley turned up "mum, where are the
shoes?" I replied "A teenager in skinny jeans took it and ran up
stairs" we eventually realised that the best way to find out what happened
to Todd and my shoe was to head to the counter...then I spotted Todd amongst
the sweaters....that dirty bastard was seeing someone else...he was showing a
Taylor Swift look-alike a burgundy hoodie, he was fingering the fabric...I
never got one word from him. He was chatting and smiling. I got none of
that.
I headed down to the till, where a young
angry/sad/unsure woman in a trendy top took ages to serve a man then eventually
had to look at me. Her eyes were annoyed. "What?" she asked me. I
wanted to tell her a story about the time I got a gynaecological smear and the
doctor told me 'You have a surprisingly tight vagina for a woman who had a
child' but I don't think that was what she was asking.
"Erm...I think we bought a shoe and we wanted
the other one to try on" I was trying to say but she butted in
"describe them" (as if I was lying and just wanted a chat with her
happy face).
My daughter described high tops, Adidas logo, colour
and size. The young woman must have had some exhaustive wasting illness as she
sighed loudly and picked up the box and dropped it on the counter.
The whole experience in USC was weird, it wasn't
like shopping, it was like a small but brief sexual affair that went wrong and
ended in a rash with vows never to return or speak of it ever again...except
for on here. Thanks USC for teaching me all about your trendy shop.
So thanks for reading, if you want follow me on
twitter @JaneyGodley for updates.
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