The Stitch

Last weekend I took several bags of old toys to Goodwill and donated them, and afterward I drove across the street to Old Navy to pick up some pants for the kids. Several people have told me about these miraculous adjustable-waistband pants offered by Old Navy, and since my kidlets are long, lean beanpoles with pants that are constantly hanging down below buttcrack level, I decided to check it out.

SCORE!

Old Navy does indeed offer adjustable waistband pants, and while I was there they were hosting a magnificent sale, so I picked up an armload of summer attire (mostly for Adam who has no hand-me-downs until 3T), thinking that with this spree, I would be done shopping for the whole season.

I reached the checkout counter and began to de-hanger all of the clothes. When it was my turn in the queue, I asked the clerk if it was okay to leave the hangers for Old Navy to recycle. He shrugged and told me that he'd be happy to take them, but they would be thrown in the trash, because Old Navy doesn't recycle their plastic hangers.

I asked him why and he told me that it's cheaper for Old Navy to pay someont to put new hangers on all the clothes than it is to recycle the old hangers and went on to tell me that all of my hangers (there were over 40 of them) would be thrown into the garbage.

Needless to say, I was appalled. However, I continued to de-hanger the clothes, silently fuming.

When he totalled up my bill, I reached into my bag for my wallet and noticed it was missing. Of course, I skipped right over 'logic and rational thinking,' dove headfirst into PANIC MODE and said, "My wallet is not in my bag!"

The clerk replied calmly, "Go see if you can find it, and when you come back I'll finish checking our your purchases."

I dodged out the door, fearing I had dropped it in the Goodwill parking lot while unloading donation bags. When I reached the car, I remembered that I had actually left my wallet in my coat. Which, (grumble), was HOME.

Embarrassed, I hopped in the car thinking I could drive home, get the wallet, and return to finish the transaction. But the cashier's words kept echoing in my head: "Old Navy doesn't recycle their plastic hangers. Old Navy doesn't recycle their plastic hangers. Old Navy doesn't recycle their plastic hangers."

And I realized that this was an act of divine intervention. Mother Nature stole my wallet so that I would not be responsible for 40 more hangers being foolishly deposited in our landfills.

I drove home, hopped online to see if I could find out why Old Navy doesn't recycle their hangers and found several stories similar to my own.