English on the Internet - English Magazine




SHOPPING IN USA

August 7, 2000

School will be starting the last week of August in the US and this means time to go shopping for school clothes. Parents dig deep into their wallets for this trip because their children have outgrown or have worn out their last year school clothes. If they haven't worn them out then little brother or sister will wear them. (Of course the sibling resents this but that's life.) The younger siblings will receive new underwear and at least two new outfits to make them happy.

Off to the stores the parents/parent (usually mother) goes to buy the clothes the child needs for school. The child goes along to try on the clothes and make sure they fit properly. (Or that's what mother thinks.) They get to the store and the parent goes toward the conservative clothing area while the child goes to the more fashionable department.

This is where the generation gap really begins to show. The child wants to look like the children they see on television. They believe you have to dress like them to be a part of the group. The parent wants the child to look like a normal child not one of those television children who they (the parent) thinks looks really weird.

The battle goes on for a long time but finally they reach a compromise. The child can purchase three of the crazy looking outfits but must agree to wear to wear three of the more normal looking outfits the parent has picked out. (Yeah, right but they didn't say how often.) The parent believes they have won the battle but the child knows who really won.

School is going to be great with the new clothes the child wanted to wear, the parents selections will be good enough for visiting relatives or to play in saving the really "cool" clothes to wear to school. The child allows the parent to believe they are still in control because they need more "cool" clothes to wear later on in the year.

by Jane Custer - USA, has a BS in Communications and loves writing





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