Thursday, October 23, 2008

Only $3 a week

Ahhh...layaway. I saw a TV ad last night for layaway services at Wal-Mart**. It showed a happy woman picking out a bunch of toys, giving them to the layaway agent and then picking them up before Christmas with snowflakes flying in the air. Seriously...an ad for layaway.

I vividly remember using layaway as a teenager in the 80's. I'd go pick out that perfect pair of Calvin Klein jeans (that were overpriced then, too) give the store $5 to hold them on layaway for a month, work extra shifts at the restaurant to get enough tips to release my dream jeans to my closet, and marvel at my purchase that only took 30 days to accomplish. It was the American way. If you couldn't afford something, you put it on hold until you had the cash in hand, then it was yours. Very motivating.

So after this ad I thought about why I hadn't used layaway in my adult life. Seems brilliant when you think about it. And then I realized why - because I now have credit cards. And I could take home the goods right away. And pay $5 a week over time without having to visit my jeans every week because they'd be in my closet. But when I think about it, I don't own some of the things in my house - Chase Bank and Capital One does.

No wonder our country is in such a economic crisis - if only we all stuck to layaway - thanks Wal-Mart for the reality check!!!

**just saw it again...it was K-Mart, not Wal-Mart...oops.

1 comment:

Whirlwind said...

I thought Wal-Mart stopped doing lay-a-ways a few years ago? But yeah, I've started seeing signs for Lay a ways pop up lately.