the story of my 88 cent underwear
My dad was always fond of saying, "You get what you pay for." Meaning that if you pay a little more for something, you might just get a higher quality product. And if you go for the cheap, you're likely to get a piece of crap.So about a year ago, I found some really cute underwear at Wal-Mart for only 88 cents a pair. What a deal, right? I bought one in every color/pattern. Well, it wasn't long before my dad's words started ringing in my ears. Almost as soon as I began wearing them (& even more so each time I washed them) these 88 cent underwear began to fall apart. The seams came loose & the elastic started to unravel. (And, yes, I did get them in the right size; this is definitely a quality control issue, not a you-can't-squeeze-a-whale-into-a-soda-can-&-expect-the-aluminum-to-hold issue.)
Now, most people would probably just throw the darn things away & buy some new, better quality underwear. But, alas, I can't do that. Environmentalist that I am, I can't throw anything away until it's well & truly worn out & has no other possible use. Even when these underwear can no longer be worn as underwear, they'll likely be turned into dust rags. But every time they unravel a little more, I think, My 88 cent underwear are down to about 72 cents.
Well, I did laundry this morning, & when I started pulling things out of the washer, I immediately noticed a big, long thread woven in & around all the other clothes. Every time I pulled out another handful of laundry, there was that thread, further twisted around the next bunch. Finally, I tracked it down, & sure enough it originated at a pair of these cheap-o underwear. It was a lot of unravelling, & I think I can officially say that my 88 cent underwear are now down to about 46 cents.
But they're still good! I can still get a few more wears out of them, really I can. I just hope I don't end up in an accident while wearing my ratty old 88 cent underwear or I'll have quite a bit of explaining to do. And the next time I go shopping, I'm going to remember: you get what you pay for.
