I went into the local sports store on Saturday. With the temperature starting to get a little cooler, I was looking for a slightly wamer training top for my outdoor jogs in the evenings. I've never liked wearing anything too warm, as I seem to be one of those people who break into a sweat looking at a flight of stairs. But it seems that even my body has it's limits.
So anyway, I wandered into town and to the store where I knew they had a sale on exactly the item I was looking for. I'd completely forgotten that today was also an expo of all things ski related. I can tell you now that every kid in Norrbotten had a brand new set of skis on Saturday and if you're on the hunt for a pair of one metre long skis today then you'll be right out of luck. Needless to say the store was quite busy. However, I found the shirt I was looking for, a slightly fleecy long sleeved Craft brand top. Perfect. Craft have excellent gear and I highly recommend them. I have found, however, that their sizing can be a bit different to other brands. So, just to be on the safe side, I grabbed two different sizes and headed off to the changing rooms.
When I arrived at the line of 3 changing rooms I could see that they were all occupied. No worries, I wasn't overly stressed for time. After 3 or 4 mintues I did start to get a little agitated. It was at that point I started taking a closer interest in the activities of the 3 occupants. Like most Swedish changing rooms, they have only those half height "saloon" type doors, making most of the occupant visible to the world in general. Modesty is a bit of strange concept in Sweden. Looking at the people in the changing cubicles I noted that all 3 were middle aged women. That was ok but what all 3 were doing, wasn't. All 3 women were, and get this, trying on winter jackets. In the frickin changing cubicles ! Not just one jacket, I might add. Oh no, they had an army of helpers running backwards and forwards with a selection of different styles and colour of rain coats.
Since when did it become necessary to use a changing room to try on a rain coat ?
After 5 minutes of waiting, and knowing full well that all 3 women had seen me standing there with my potential clothing, I'd had a gutsful of this and headed further back into the store. I met a sales assistant and asked her if those 3 changing cubicles were the only ones in the store. Yes, was the answer. Oh, said I, you mean the ones that are fully occupied by 3 women trying on rain coats ? Yes, replied she, before adding, they probably don't need to use changing rooms for that. You think ? There was a kind of awkward few seconds before I realised that the discussion was now finished and that nothing was going to come from this.
Fed up by now, I trundled back to the lower floor to put back my unproven clothing. As I approached the rack, a male assistant appeared through the door leading into the store room. Seizing the opportunity, I explained the situation and asked if I could pop into the store room for a few seconds to try on the clothing. Expecting a firm refusal, I was pleasantly shocked when he held the door open for me and gestured me in. The sight the greeted me inside the cramped store room summed up the situation perfectly. There inside a dusty store room were 5 middle aged males trying on shirts, trousers and jumpers. They turned and looked up at their new cellmate and we just all knew. This was what we had been reduced to. This was our lot in life. The wives reigned supreme in that brightly lit world above, with halogen lamps, 3 sided mirrors, and piped music. While the husbands fought for survival in the dust infested basement.
Such is the way of the world.
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