All's Fair in Love, War, and Sample Sales

LSL is coming out of a hibernation- what can I say, it seemed an extra long winter this year in the city. What news can I relay? Just a short fable which ends, as fables must, with a lesson to be learned. Several months ago, my shopping buddy Viv and I trekked to the garment district to scope out a sample sale which promised my beloved label Missoni and a bonus offering of gowns by Valentino and Marchesa. I scored on a couple of Missoni knit dresses, then decided to try my luck with some evening wear. I could not resist playing dress up in the gorgeous full-length Marchesa gowns, but placed them back on the racks in the name of practicality. After all, there is no Oscar red carpet moment in my forseeable future (Hollywood has yet to option LSL's ruminations on fashion for a celluloid incarnation for some incomprehensible reason). I did, however, find a Valentino black dress with a sheer sequined bodice that would be the perfect sparkly cocktail LBD, with a few nips and tucks. By this time, the end of the business day crept up on us and the sales ladies rushed us to finish. Viv and I decided on 2 Missoni's and the Valentino and scurried to the register. I silently cursed myself that I did not make a pre-sample sale trip to the ATM and had to pay the piper with plastic. As the register lady rang up my spoils and read the total, a little voice told me something was off- Viv's face also registered the same sense of perplexion. We left the building, then looked at the receipt- YES, it seemed they had forgotten to ring up the Valentino dress. We walked away gleefully, our thrill only slightly tinged with guilt for getting away with something for which we did not pay (you've all been there). Maybe I deserved a reward for the previous 2 decades of honorable behavior. That adrenaline rush was short-lived, for the following day, I noted an additional charge on my credit card. As I ruefully told Viv, she pointed out perhaps it was karma for our ethical slip-up. Yes, I conceded, one could walk away from this experience with the moral that honesty is the best honesty, but readers, my personal advice from this cautionary tale is this: when it comes to the checkout counter, paper is better than plastic (read: take cash)!