The Livin' Is Easy (But Not the Shopping)

Last year we took a trip to the beach the first week of October. I figured I would wait until the end of the season to buy half-price bathing suits and sale items off the water toys aisle. I bounded into Macy's one lunch hour early in September, sweating through my work attire and glad to hit the AC, only to discover racks and racks of wool coats in the section where I thought the bathing suits should go. "I heard they were on sale!" I whined to the salesperson, who replied that they had been on sale last weekend, but now they were gone. "Summer is over," she explained incredulously. "I don't think any stores have bathing suits anymore." Great. I managed to borrow enough clothing and equipment to make it through our trip, but I vowed to do a better job the following year.

Doing a better job meant paying attention to when the end of the season came to the world of retail. You know when summer is over? Now. Right in the middle of two weeks of temperatures over 100 degrees. School started back, and that's it. Time to scramble for the last few mismatched two-piece toddler suits, the bright orange floaties, and whatever else is left on the dollar aisle at Target. I could understand this if it were just the national chains pushing fall on us. Maybe it's cooling off somewhere else. But there's no reason I should walk into Schnuck's and see harvest-themed flower arrangements at the front door. Even worse than that, the season has changed at Rhodes. Students are back, summer work hours have ceased to exist, and suddenly we're expected to dress up and look professional again. At least as professional as possible while covered in sweat.