blue jeans and broken hearts.
I went on a little excursion with my parents today.
And you never do know what my pop is gonna say at any given moment.
While we were walking through Forever XXI, he motioned to something and said, Look Jess, that’s you!
I looked in the general direction of his gesture and saw a mannequin.
Oh, I said, Is it because the mannequin is tall and skinny?
No, my pop corrected me, I didn’t mean the mannequin; I meant this sign…Which is when he once again pointed to something, but this time made sure I saw it:
And sure enough, I was wearing blue jeans.
And sure enough, my heart is a little worse for the wear right now.
But, well, I couldn’t help but laugh. And so did my mom and pop. Cause it was funny and random and a big sign that my pop said was me.
And then I couldn’t help but take a picture. And then I was told by an employee that I couldn’t take a picture. And then she made me erase it while she watched, as if I couldn’t be trusted. Which was actually smart on her part, because I was totally planning on apologizing and not erasing it. But you know, all the best plans or something like that.
And then a little later, and after much thought given to the spirit of the law verses the letter of the law–otherwise known as rationalization–I snuck back into Forever XXI, camera in hand. I looked left and right and then snapped a shot. And then bought a pair of pants, I felt so guilty.
Okay, so I bought the pants because they were red plaid and $7.99, not really because I felt guilty at all.
But at least I was a paying customer. Even if I was taking black market pictures for my blog…
But can you blame me? After all, I am the personification of blue jeans and broken hearts. Which is exactly why I should be pardoned, should this crime ever get back to the Forever XXI police.
in Funny Stuff, Loved Ones, photography
as blue jeans, broken hearts, Forever, Jess, letter of the law, mannequin, pop, something, spirit of the law, XXI
Wow I would not have obeyed that rule at all. And I wouldn’t have felt an ounce of guilt.
ever the sneaky co-conspirator…:) Mom, however, would have nothing to do with it–I asked her to take a pic of me in front of the sign, and she said she couldn’t; she just couldn’t. Perhaps it is because she is a woman of the cloth…
luckily, being an artist, I have no such…reservations…
I feel very strongly that people aren’t allowed to ask such things of other people in a free society!
yes. and should not be allowed to be snarky on top of it. cause the employee WAS snarky.
I don’t know what I would have done. Part of me would want to ignore the woman and part of me would erase the photo because, as my husband often says, I am “such a rule queen!” I probably would be conflicted about it but, man, it’s not like it’s an art museum or anything!! And I don’t appreciate snarky at all, especially from people who are supposed to be in customer service…one should still be nice.
well, I DID erase it…I just went back and took another one later, is all…:)
It’s possible that you got the one snarky employee that everyone in the store feels kind of awkward about, but no one will confront them on the fact that their customer service skills are sub-par.
But also possible that they took one look at you and saw you for the terrorist that you are.
this is true.
It’s probably the hair.
that kinda blond is just really suspicious these days.
Dumb rule. Your camera, in a public place. They don’t want pictures, then they shouldn’t open the store to the public. They should keep it a private store for just their friends. See how that works out.
And what’s with that name? Are the young kids really into Roman numerals these days? Or is their target market middle aged people who want to think of themselves as still 21 and who got caught up in the Roman numeral fad back in the 90s? The ????
PJ–you didn’t know??? The young kids cannot get enough Roman numerals!!! And they’re sooooo jealous of Generation X!!!!
What kind of crazy power trip was she on? It seems to me that a store called Forever XXI shouldn’t try to rule with such an iron fist… Glad you went back for another picture!
I know–I really don’t know what I could have done to damage the store with a picture of that sign…But I guess she was making sure that I didn’t do it, whatever it was…and just think how mad she’d be if she ever stumbles across this blog!!! :/
You are so sneaky, I love it! Now I need a picture of the plaid pants!
well then, lemme try to make that happen for you:-)
Such a rebel!!! Who knew???
yep. I guess that this whole thing HAS changed me, after all:-)
LOVE the sign! And I applaud your rule breakage, in these totally legitimate circumstances. I am a complete rule follower, so I would not have had the guts to do it. And as a former retail associate at Pottery Barn, I will solve the mystery for you. Most stores do not allow you to take pictures because of security. The think that people “case the joint” if you will, using their cameras to take photos of entrances/exits, store layouts, most expensive merchandise, etc. to then show their partners in crime. Personally, I feel that gives a lot of credit to shoplifters and I don’t know that they do that much preplanning. AND at that store, why is the roman numeral 21 above the word ‘forever’?? Wouldn’t it then be called 21 Forever and not Forever 21. I always wonder that.
well thank you for the reason! at least that kinda makes sense…I don’t mind following rules when there are good reason behind them; it’s just following them arbitrarily that makes me so annoyed. And yeah, about the whole placement of the roman numerals–I’ve wondered that exact same thing. In fact, my mom recently asked me the same question. I tried to come up with a good answer, but eventually I was just like, You’ve got a good point…
To prove their worst fears correct, I’m totally going to steal that Blue Jeans and Broken Hearts sign now.
Whaaa? They wouldn’t let you take a picture in Forever 21? That’s just ridiculous. I think you should go try on a bunch of clothes in the dressing room and take pictures of all the outfits. Then not buy any of them. Unless you find a great outfit. Of course.