When my daughter was 12 or 13, she was in need of a winter coat. Because my job prevented me from being home much, I volunteered to take her shopping. I had little experience shopping with females, and far less shopping with teenage girls. But, I hunted terrorists for a living...how hard could this be?
I found a half price winter coat at Sears. She refused to wear it, claiming we were in an "old people" store; her friends would know, and that she would be bullied at school. I took her to every store in the mall...and there were dozens. Same issue.
Many would probably think she was being a brat (my 1st thought), but remember the context ^^...I can't even tell when da missus gets her hair done, so I was clearly out of my element. I also didn't want her bullied.
To appease her angst (quite visceral), we trundled off to a store she chose. She found a coat. It was waaay more than the coats I had selected. Her buckets of tears were replaced by a beaming smile and a pitiful look of hope...so, this was the coat we ended up with. I was exhausted and confused and broke. We headed home. Mother and daughter were delighted with the choice. I grabbed a beer and turned on the hockey game. Nothing to it...pffft. Five hours shopping with a teenage girl?...give me an Op in the mid east anytime.
Ever since, whenever we went "shopping", da missus and daughter would happily skip off...while I would head to a sports bar jammed with husbands and fathers, and have a few pints.
There is no moral to this story...no epiphany. I suppose it was just cathartic to relate it.
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