Banana Crew

I went shopping tonight with the mission of buying a new suit. I already have one from J. Crew that I like and that fits perfectly. I didn't want to fuss with trying something new, so at the mall I made a beeline for J. Crew with the hopes of buying the same style suit in a different color.

Admittedly, J. Crew and Banana Republic are right beside each other. I walked up and saw preppy clothes in the windows and (what looked like) two entrances to the same store, separated by window displays. I went in one and started looking around. I told the saleswoman I already had a suit from J. Crew and knew my size, but wanted to see what colors they had. She mentioned the names of the pants styles, which tripped a low-level switch in my head; I didn't remember J. Crew having names like that for their pants styles.

The saleswoman put the suits I'd picked out and the shirts I'd grabbed to try with them in the dressing room.

The suits fit perfectly and looked great; I was pleased with my decision to stick with the brand and style that I knew and liked.

Then, as I was removing a shirt from its hanger, I looked squarely at the label.

BANANA REPUBLIC

Suddenly I felt that immediate drop in my stomach and prickly panic that hits when something's amiss. "How did this shirt get in here??!" I thought; "a Banana Republic shirt in J. Crew!" My mind raced in confusion. Or maybe it finally just started operating at normal speed. Because I looked at the tags on the suit, and they also said Banana Republic. I suddenly realized that I was IN BANANA REPUBLIC. Not J. Crew.

Totally yuppie/preppy/puppy sounding story, but the moral here is that I'm losing my mind.

I guess that's what happens when you're in the middle of an international move with T-minus days until liftoff.