Digital 3D Clothes made with Digital Sewing Machine Tools in Marvelous Designer Software; Wikimedia Commons
All I could do was sigh and settle in for the long haul. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as I watched the drama in front of me unfold, so to speak. Edith, the ever-patient scissor-toting team member, unfolded a length of fabric from the first bolt, "How much do you need?"
"Um ... let’s see ... I think about one-third of a yard," came the reply from Lulu. The shears slid through the fabric like butter. Edith expertly folded the swatch and scanned the price into her hand-held pricing gadget.
Lulu leisurely selected another bolt of nursery-themed fabric from her stash, this one with yellow quarter-moons on a field of pastel blue. Instead of stating how much she wanted, she seemed to relish the suspense of waiting until Edith asked the question, thereby drawing out the process as long as humanly possible.
I averted my eyes as told myself to refrain from counting how many bolts of fabric remained. I tried to think of pleasant things: kittens, chocolate, a good book ...
"How much do you need?" Over and over again: fabric with lambs leaping on a field of mint green, fuzzy ducklings, pink bows, all things sweet and adorable.
"Hmm ... I don't really need much of this one." Lulu eyed the plain yellow cotton material in front of her. Edith waited, scissors poised midair. The seconds ticked by.
The voice in my head was yelling, "She's not a mind-reader! Tell her how much already!"
"Maybe a fourth of a yard?" Edith prompted, trying diplomatically to move things along. But Lulu was not to be rushed into a big decision. She held her hands apart and wanted to know how much 'that' was and Edith, measuring the gap, informed her it was just under a quarter of a yard.
"Well, I just don't know," Lulu turned the fabric at a different angle, as though seeing the solid color from a different viewpoint might change matters. "Hmm. Maybe I should get a third, but I don't think I really need that much. Is it on sale?"
"Let me check for you," replied the ever helpful Edith. She revealed that it was on sale for $3.99 a yard.
I shifted my weight again, silently pleading, "Go crazy! Splurge! Buy those extra three inches!" By now I had calculated the price in my head and the difference would have worked out to about 34 cents.
"Oh. I think I’m only going to use a little piece though. Let’s see now ... show me what one third looks like." Well, duh. How about exactly like the previous seven pieces of fabric Edith cut?
I was now arguing with the voice in my head that wanted to toss a dollar on the table and shout, "This one's on me. Whack off a third of a yard." I must admit that I did exactly that at a Dollar Store last month when a customer was supremely unhappy that she couldn't use a coupon on a 2-pack of soap that was already a bargain at $1.00 and wanted to speak to the manager. My gesture was not appreciated then, and I didn't think it would be today either. So I leaned forward on the handle of my shopping cart and tucked my left foot behind my right ankle to ease the pressure on my left knee and foot (a recent marathon of gardening and yard work had left my body parts feeling achy and protesting this delay).
The discussion over the length of yellow fabric continued on like touchy negotiations at a peace treaty. I amused myself with playing a mind game listing different shades of yellow: lemon, canary, sunflower, ochre, citrus, saffron, amber, and (as my thoughts darkened again) sulfur.
I decided that I might as well step over to the thread display and get a spool just in case I didn't have enough red at home, because I certainly didn't want to make another trip. I straightened my back, let go of the cart, and ... promptly fell flat on the floor. OW!
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