Dear Retail Giant

Dear Retail Giant,

Not sure if you noticed, but the calendar still says February. Here in Central Pennsylvania, and the rest of the U.S. for that matter, there is really very little need for bathing suits right now. Today the sun's out, which has brought the thermometer reading all the way up to 10 degrees. I'd consider purchasing one of your brand new patio sets, the better to enjoy the sun, but the wind chill just might kill me, especially if I really am sporting one of those teeny weeny bikinis you've got on your racks. And then there's the fact that I just got started on my annual weight loss resolution (see previous post), and I'm just not quite ready to bear it all.

With our latest round of snow and ice (remember, it does snow in February!), we found that we could really use a new shovel, and we ran out of ice melt, so that was on our shopping list too. So we saddled up the hybrid SUV and went to the nearest, handiest, has all you could ever need retail giant, only to find that we'd be better off planting shrubs than in removing ice from our driveway. Not one single snow shovel or bucket of ice melt was to be found. This situation might be acceptable in mid-March, but on the 8th of February???

And that brings me back again to my resolution. I'm doing great! So well that I might need to buy a new pair of pants or two. What's that? Pants season is over? You'll have to wait until July (as that's when winter clothes come in) to find another pair of cords or slacks or.....?? A*$!@!

So, giant retailer, as I sit in my house watching the snow blow by the window, pile up in my driveway with the next storm rolling in tomorrow, you will be the very last one I think of should a need arise!

The local hardware store might have to charge more because they can't afford to buy/store the massive quantities of stock that you do, but they know that you still need shovels and snow pants in February.

The down-town apparel shop is surely more expensive, but they can tell you where their clothing was made, and they keep their sweaters through at least March knowing that we do indeed need them.

Mr. Giant Retail Store, bigger is most certainly not always better!