Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

When I ordered my bridesmaid gown for my sister's wedding, the shop told me that, according to my measurements, I was a size 8 on top and a size 12 down below.

I've been wearing size 12's but size medium tops, so I believed it. And just recently, I saw a catalogue that listed the comparable clothing sizes. A medium top is equivalent to a size 8-10.

This, I told The Gryphon, means I'm gourd-shaped.

"The term is pear-shaped," he said.

"I'd rather be a gourd," I said, "because they're more curvaceous."

"But gourds are hollow and pears are sweet like you," he said.

"Nice try, but our society has negative connotations for the word pear-shaped. We have no negative connotations for the word gourd-shaped. Therefore, I prefer to be gourd-shaped."

Of course, it will take longer for us to ever see those dresses, thanks to a little thing called bankruptcy. Kaufman's Wedding World, a national bridal shop, is screwing over brides and bridesmaids all over America.

That was the store through which we had ordered our dresses. My sister went in and talked to the store about it, and they claimed they'd sent our money to their head office, which should have placed the order.

Unfortunately, when my sister called the manufacturer, they had never received the order. So the only thing we can figure is the head office got the money and kept it without ordering the dresses.

So now we're stuck. It's the store that owes us the money, and they don't look likely to give us a refund. My brother's wife, who is the other bridesmaid, thinks that her credit card company will be able to work with her. I have to remember which card I put it on.

My sister, who paid for her dress with a check from Mom, filed a complaint with the district attorney's office, requesting a refund. We don't know when we'll see that, if at all.

Fortunately, the dresses my sister had picked were not terribly expensive. Unfortunately, it does mean that when she finds another store, we'll have to shell out the money a second time. But on the brighter side, I'd only put down a deposit, not the entire amount.

And my sister's wedding isn't until next summer, so she has some time to get a new dress.

We spoke about this to a friend of ours this weekend, also a State College resident, who's getting married next summer, too. She said that she's lucky; she bought her dress off the rack.

I understand the employees at Kaufman's are coming in to help with these problems, even though they're owed weeks of salary for which they will receive nothing.

So I suppose like most things, once it's put into perspective, it's not as bad as it could be. I feel bad for those employees, working essentially for free while dealing with panicky and angry women.

This news was all part of a roller-coaster day yesterday. Something would happen to make me happy; then something to make me anxious. It would be funny if it weren't so irritating.

Have I mentioned I hate Mondays?

Copyright 2004 by Alyce Wilson

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