Rendezvous
19 December 05 : 11.19 PM
Some people find their childhood in playgrounds, in the candy shop near school, in certain sports or games or activities they used to engage in. I found mine in a clothing store.
The forum was a shopping mall i used to go to as a kid. I loved Toys R' Us, but not as much as the children apparel store there in the same building. The sold beautiful clothes, expensive brand names like Armani Junior, Simonetta Junior, Baby Dior, Burberry Kids and the likes. People went swimming on sundays, or go to church, I went shopping.
The salesgirls there knew my name, and called it endearingly, knew my siblings and greeted my mom cheerfully when they saw her. Try this, Vicki! What about this colour? Ask Mommy to get you both tops!
There was an area in the shop, where they used to display for sale, bubblegum kits and hardcovered children books. I would sit there quite often, while waiting for my mother to pay for the stuff. I wouldn't dare to read the books, they were so expensive and I was afraid I would tear the pages or that the sales staff would tell me that I wasn't allowed to browse, so I'd look at the back of the book and would feel satiated enough to put it back down where I took it from.
Today, after years of not entering that place, it still looked the same as before. The staff greeted me the way they would any customer, but when they saw my mom, they realised that I was Vicki and could only see a resemblance to the little spoilt girl who threw a tantrum when she couldn't get the $300 skirt she wanted.
I recognised most of the salespeople, except for the few new ones, many of them worked here since I was really young. They still remembered my mom's name and her face, and they call my name like I was still a child. The young ones, as I remembered them to be, aren't as young anymore, and they've even got kids of their own now.
The place is still the same, except they've got new brands that I've never heard of, clothes that are far more expensive and not as much Christmas spirit as before. The books are gone, replaced by Dior towels and mittens. I don't even remember seeing a Christmas tree just now.
And while I wanted to believe that I outgrew the whole demanding-spoilt-brat behavior, now that I can decide I don't want overpriced clothes, b. confirms that I'm still as spoilt as ever.