La Perla or Groceries

The bag was staring back at me as I held my head in my hands. What had I done? Could I get home and get the credit card bill before my husband saw it? What possessed me to spend that kind of money? Was it the anticipation of my son's upcoming wedding that left me with visions of grandchildren? Yeah that is a good excuse, my husband will accept my lack of judgement on the wedding, he knows how giddy I have gotten since our only child told us he was getting married.

I was visiting a girlfriend who lives in Manhattan, NY, NY. I visit her at least twice a year and we do the theater, visit some nice restaurants and drift by shops at higher end boutiques. We went to a boutique called La Perla. I have usually just walked away from this store because it is just too darn expensive. But Michelle wanted to go in and I have been avoiding it for years. I relented this time, thinking that I would pick up a few lingerie items for my future daughter in law as a present, something sexy, something young, something that would make my son's eyes fall out thereby resulting in hopefully grandchildren and unfortunately something expensive. I figured that I could also pick up a teddy for my husband's enjoyment, since I did use his money for my trip.

I never dreamed that there were people who actually paid the prices this store was asking. I browsed, yes only browsed through this store. I touched the silk panties, the flimsy, although sexy teddies, the beautiful slips with Italian lace that felt so good. I had picked up a set,(a bra and panty) in midnight blue for my future daughter in law, then I picked up a really beautiful teddy for me. While chattering with Michelle I was not paying attention to the price tags. I went to the register and pulled out my credit card to pay for the items. They were apparently on sale at 40% off, so I figured that I was getting a good deal. Seven hundred and eighty five dollars later I was walking out of the store with this skimpy little bag, praying that my husband did not look at the credit card bill this month. I could not believe that I did that. I was mentally berating myself for spending this money and I was thinking what I could have purchased instead of these three little things that were now resting beside my leg as we walked along.

So I made a mental list of the top ten things that I could have purchased with this money:

700 loaves of bread

375 gallons of gasoline

350 quarts of milk

300 boxes of cereal

261 lbs of grapes

300 lbs of meat

30 Movie dates

40 dinners out

1 month of mortgage payments for my son

1 down payment on his honeymoon

Then I reconsidered and I peeked inside the bag again. Thinking back almost 25 years ago when I had made a similar purchase that ultimately played a significant part in the creation of my son. Yeah, my husband would forgive me if the same results were to occur. It was worth it.