And Why Argyle Never Seems to Work

Last night I was shopping online _(take note: online shopping is the new midnight snack)_ at urbanoutfitters.com and I found some red and gray argyle socks on sale for 2.99. I was happy. I put three pair in my cart, continued to checkout, entered my address and credit card number. Then it occurred to me that if I’m already paying shipping and handling, I should make sure there’s nothing else I want from them. So I closed the page and went down stairs to get a snack… _(okay, so maybe online shopping really isn’t the new midnight snack)_. When I went back upstairs a few hours later, _(okay, I watched some tivo)_, the socks were still there, but next to it in little red letters were the words, *”Out of Stock”*.

I called their customer service line, _(which by the way, is available until 2 a.m. for all you night owls)_, and they told me that it was “impossible” to order those socks, that people who _did_ order those socks might not even get them because there aren’t any left. I was discouraged, *but then a beautiful thought occurred to me. I went into my internet history, and found the page where I had entered in my information to make the purchase*. I kinda figured it would tell me something like, “This Page Has Expired,” but no, it let me continue adding my VISA number and actually let me order the socks. For a while the status of the order was, “Low in Stock, Order May Be Cancelled,” but it eventually was processed and shipped. I beat the system.

*Now for the sad part of the story*. I got the socks and when I pulled off the package sticker, it pulled out all the little argyle stitches. Very unfortunate…I returned them. It reminded me of just a few weeks ago when I got a pair of green argyle socks at J.Crew and after I wore them they pilled. I guess I’m into argyle lately. If you don’t know what argyle is…like my friend who thought it was like cashmere, “Argyle? I bet that’s expensive,”… argyle is that diamond pattern that is most commonly seen on golfers.

*If you really want to see some beautiful argyle in action*, “check out this sweater”:http://www.cabionline.com/FALL05/CEO/ceo3b.asp by CAbi (aka: Carol Anderson by invitation). I still haven’t received my invitation….but when I do, I’m buying this sweater. If that turns out badly, then I guess I’ll swear off argyle for life, which would be a pretty big deal considering I like to golf.