Small Town Seattle

Imagine that you and a pal go to the downtown Goodwill Outlet where everything is $1.29 a pound. You sift through the bins, looking for wool sweaters to felt. Maybe you make an unexpected score and find those foam letter puzzle pieces you've seen others use for blocking lace. Have to dig through three bins of toys to collect them. Your eagle-eyed friend helps and between the two, you collect all but the outside of the Q. Who needs a Q? Now you can knit that shawl you've been thinking of. Maybe you can even convince your friend to try some lace knitting.

And the sweaters. Several 100% cashmere. Think of the goats who suffered on the steppes of Mongolia just so folks could wear and toss a sweater so easily. How many of these were gifts or shopping as entertainment? Well, that's another rant for another day. They don't felt, some have little holes, but there's plenty of luxury to line hats, back pillows, edge a throw. An Alpaca pullover to experiment with also. It's itchy. Who knew? And a pile of wool to felt.

And your pal and you each find some wearable clothing. Unexpected pleasure. She gets an argyle V neck in just her colors. You find some silk tee shirts. One has a ripped seam but the other is in perfect condition. Just the thing to wear under a sweater. They even still have drycleaning tags.

You wash them anyway, because, well, you know. In your front loader, delicate cycle, cold water with your own wool sweaters. Taking advantage of the fact things don't felt well in a front-loader, you've figured out it is as safe as handwashing and a lot less hassle.

So the silk tees are clean and dry and then you remember to remove the safety pins from the cleaners. Oops. Then it occurs to you. Took a while, because you don't use the drycleaner very often. Don't they put a customer's name on those tags? What's the chance you recognize the name?

You recognize. Most definitely. Someone you have dealt with. Professionally. So has your husband. And you both found him obnoxious socially and professionally clueless. Can you wear his wife's shirts?