Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the stores, the shopping shark rears its ugly head!!! But wait, I am getting ahead of myself.
Four years ago, I went to Bangkok for the very first time to visit family. Not only was I excited about the whole cultural experience of experiencing a new country, but I had also heard that Bangkok had excellent shopping and I was ready for a great shopping trip in true Ladies Who Lunch fashion.
Now let me preface all of this by saying that at the time, I weighed about 70 pounds heavier than I do today. Being a workaholic led to eating junk and never exercising, which led to me totally blimping out. So when I finally go shopping in Bangkok, it was a completely frustrating experience. Since Asian sizing tends to be smaller than American sizing, I found that the only clothes that I could fit into were size XXL. That is if you could find size XXL, a size that was in very short supply. Of course if you asked store employees if they had anything in XXL, it led to embarrassing finger pointing and exclamations of “No, you too big!!!”. So, on this trip four years ago, I found that even though there were cool clothing lines that weren’t in the US or lines that were in the US had merchandise that was only sold in Asia, I would have to hang my head low and not partake in the shopping frenzy.
Fast forward to this last Christmas in Bangkok. Having lost 70 pounds, I was ready to dive back into the Bangkok shopping pool. On the first day, despite the fact that Asian sizing is smaller, I discovered that I was now a size Small in Bangkok!! I was thrilled and ready to go on a magnificent shopping spree. But fate had different plans for me. As I went from store to store, whenever I would find something that interested me, they would only have that item in size Large or XXL. What????????? I was flabbergasted and in disbelief I searched in vain for items I liked in size Small. Why had the shopping gods frowned upon me?? I was finally an Asian size Small and I still couldn’t find clothes to buy.
Well, looking for the silver lining, at least my credit card bill would not be voluminous upon my return to the states. I’ll comfort myself by believing that some cosmic force was looking after my economic best interests and aiding me in saving for that penthouse that I want to buy someday. At least that’s what I keep telling myself :)
