Tradition

Yesterday my wife and I took the Grand kids shopping for Easter clothes. I am big on tradition and love the old ways. I was determined to get my Grand daughter a new dress,white gloves,shoes,a bonnet and a matching purse. A new suit was in order for my Grand son. So,off we went, right after baseball practice.
First stop was a store called Peebles. A bit on the pricey side but I knew they had good stuff. As it turned out they were having a store wide sale. Buy one item,get another item for one dollar. The only stipulation being the second item being of equal or lesser value. Wound up getting two dresses. Not a bad deal. But no suits for young men. Did find the white gloves there though. No bonnets.
We continued on to the next store. J.C. Penney. Surely they will have the required bonnet and a suit for a young man. J.C.Penney, the old standby. It was a bust. No bonnets or suits. When I inquired about the bonnets I got a strange look and a polite reply. We don't have any in stock but I could order one for you. Guess they aren't anticipating many sales in that department. Pretty much heard the same thing in regards to the suit. We did however purchase a pair of shoes for my grand daughter. White shoes with a small heel to match her new Easter dress. When I went to pay for those it was a curious thing. The cashier said I could save 15% by using my J.C.Penney charge account. I don't have one of those. No problem I could save 5% just by charging it using any other method,ie: Masterard,Visa etc. I elected to just pay cash. No savings was offered for this method of payment. I left thinking,that's strange,I thought a bird in the hand was worth two in the brush. Paying with cash ,penalized, we prefer you just charge it. I can save on gasoline by paying cash, a few cents a gallon,but not so with items bought at J.C.Penney.
By this time the kids were getting hungry and a little bored. It was getting late and we needed to move on. Well I'm sure Walmart will have what we need. So back to the car,load up and drive across town to the Walmart. Now my grand son,like most young men is not very particular about clothing. As long as it fits fairly well and looks decent that's good enough. We headed directly to the boys department. To my utter surprise they have absolutely no suits ! What ? I can't believe it. The closet thing we can find is an outfit with pants,shirt,tie and vest. That's it. And that's is what we settle on. Picking up a pair of new dress shoes and a different tie,didn't like the one with the outfit, we called it a day.
Took the kids home and they modeled their new outfits for mom and dad. They seemed pleased with what they had picked out. That was the important part. As for me, I was a little disappointed. No Easter bonnets ? What is the world coming too ? No suits ? Well we will just have to try a little harder. If a bonnet can't be found I suppose a big ribbon in her hair will have to do. The old traditions, I can see them just slipping away.