Clothes: Who Needs 'Em?!
On Saturday afternoon I dug though my dresser drawers and my make-shift closet and took out all the clothes that I don't wear anymore to donate to my church's thrift store. It was a really cleansing and cathartic experience ridding myself of the extra, the worn, the unworn. Then on Sunday morning, I put all the clothes in a big Santa-esque bag and lugged it down to the subway. I should also mention that this bag weighed approximately 50 pounds, and it was approximately 100 degrees outside. Approximately. I was sweating even before the train came.
So the train came and I took it for 4 stops, got off, lugged the clothes up the stairs into the hot sun, and I began my looong journey covering three crosstown blocks. The handle on the bag wasn't really much of a handle so I had to carry the bundle like a baby. I looked like a freak. And then it was SO hot that I started really sweating, like the kind of sweating when you notice it dripping off your eyelashes. People were starting to look. I stopped a couple of times to take a break in the shade, but I think stopping made me sweat even more. Ok, a lot of sweating, you get the picture! ANYWAY, this whole time I was becoming increasingly bitter about this whole donation thing. I thought: "No one is even going to want these clothes! Most of them are from Target!" and then "I should have just thrown them away in the dumpster outside my building!" But it was too late so I just continued on until I finally made it to the thrift store where I was startled to accidentally see myself in a mirror behind the donation counter. I put the hot in hot mess.
Then, since I was already there, I went into the basement chapel for mass. It. Was. Heavenly. Immediately I was relieved to be in the presence of a blessed air conditioner (and also, Jesus). There was singing and praying and scripture and all that good stuff, and then the priest stood up to give his homily (for non-catholics, this is the part where the priest puts the pieces together and tells you what's up). Father stood up and basically told us he's a hoarder who travels with twice as many clothes as he'll need. (Priests confess too!). And then he told us about about this girl who went backpacking in South Africa. All she had was the clothes she was wearing and what could fit in her backpack. As she traveled for 10 weeks, she began leaving articles of clothing behind for the people she was serving. And his message was something like: "Be like this girl! Don't be a materialistic hoarder! Don't worry about having enough clothes! Give you clothes away! " And I was like: "Get out of here! I just did that!"
Anyway, I thought it was kind of cool and worth all that eyelash sweating.
Then afterward I went to Magic Mike (the stripper movie), and they were totally willing to give their clothes away too! In a way...
So the train came and I took it for 4 stops, got off, lugged the clothes up the stairs into the hot sun, and I began my looong journey covering three crosstown blocks. The handle on the bag wasn't really much of a handle so I had to carry the bundle like a baby. I looked like a freak. And then it was SO hot that I started really sweating, like the kind of sweating when you notice it dripping off your eyelashes. People were starting to look. I stopped a couple of times to take a break in the shade, but I think stopping made me sweat even more. Ok, a lot of sweating, you get the picture! ANYWAY, this whole time I was becoming increasingly bitter about this whole donation thing. I thought: "No one is even going to want these clothes! Most of them are from Target!" and then "I should have just thrown them away in the dumpster outside my building!" But it was too late so I just continued on until I finally made it to the thrift store where I was startled to accidentally see myself in a mirror behind the donation counter. I put the hot in hot mess.
Then, since I was already there, I went into the basement chapel for mass. It. Was. Heavenly. Immediately I was relieved to be in the presence of a blessed air conditioner (and also, Jesus). There was singing and praying and scripture and all that good stuff, and then the priest stood up to give his homily (for non-catholics, this is the part where the priest puts the pieces together and tells you what's up). Father stood up and basically told us he's a hoarder who travels with twice as many clothes as he'll need. (Priests confess too!). And then he told us about about this girl who went backpacking in South Africa. All she had was the clothes she was wearing and what could fit in her backpack. As she traveled for 10 weeks, she began leaving articles of clothing behind for the people she was serving. And his message was something like: "Be like this girl! Don't be a materialistic hoarder! Don't worry about having enough clothes! Give you clothes away! " And I was like: "Get out of here! I just did that!"
Anyway, I thought it was kind of cool and worth all that eyelash sweating.
Then afterward I went to Magic Mike (the stripper movie), and they were totally willing to give their clothes away too! In a way...
Hi---LARIOUS!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! Too funny. Although it's almost been a YEAR since I moved away from NYC, I can still visualize every step of your Sweaty trek. I miss you, and somewhat miss those long crosstown blocks.
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