Wisdom

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake is sitting between us.  I notice that we're each leaned forward towards the other, and my body language mimics hers.  We've snuck in one hour onto our calendars to catch up, eat something sweet, and laugh together.  It's been easy like this since I've known her.

"You know you're too old for Forever 21 when you've gone into the dressing room for the third time and come out empty handed," she begins.  "I don't know why I keep going in there.  I mean, the clothes look fabulous on the mannequin.  And I tell myself, ten dollars for a blouse?  Now that's affordable!  So, I grab a few items, wait in the line for almost fifteen minutes, then head into a dressing room.  And then it dawns on me.  I'm in the middle of sticking this dress over my head, you know, the one without a zipper?  And I remember, I've done this before.  You know, you get that dress just past the shoulders, and you realize you're stuck!  There's no one to help you in there.  Those low lights are shining down on you and you start to sweat.  You're too embarrassed to ask the salesgirl for help, so you spend fifteen minutes just wriggling out of the cheap thing, praying that you don't end up ripping it and have to buy it."  

We laugh uncontrollably.  I nod with familiarity at her story.

"Yeah, I'm too old to go in there anymore.  It's just not worth it!" she finishes.

We dive back into our Strawberry Shortcake, giggling as we move into another story, cautious to keep our eyes away from our watches and phones.  And I think, now that's a great idea for a slice of life story!