I Survived City Centre and All I Got was This T-Shirt
Little Man has a dance performance through school on Thursday. They require him to have black jeans and a black t-shirt. Since the major supermarkets carried clothes I figured Sainsbury would have the basics. Of course, as history dictates I will be proven wrong. So this morning I went over to Matalan's (no easy feat to find this store from where I am) and they had black jeans but no black t-shirts and I looked hard. None in the little boy section, none in the little girl section, none in the men's section and none in the women's section (side note: there were some in the plus size women's section, but I didn't think they would shrink correctly). So I went next door to Next, no black t-shirts.
Now when I say black t-shirt, I mean one that has no print or cartoon character on it. Plain old t-shirt. Now yesterday while waiting for Little Man to get out of school. I was talking to another mother and she said that she had picked up the t-shirt at the Gap. Now, there are two Gaps in Sheffield. One is in Meadowhall which is severely damaged by the flooding and the other in smack dab in the middle of city centre.
I didn't mind going to city centre when we lived a couple of blocks outside of it and didn't have to worry about parking a car. Also, Phil took the SatNav with him to Cardiff. So I pulled up the city centre map and tried to figure out how to get to a parking lot close to the Gap. There are a lot of closed off pedestrian or bus only lanes in city centre. Add to that construction that has blocked off some routes. Then sprinkle on the fact that streets are very rarely labeled by street signs and if they are they are high up on the side of some building and when you're close enough to read them it's too late.
So Lady Jane and I hopped into the car and drove the route I thought I'd take. Damn history. The way I wanted to go was blocked so I circled around and found a parking lot. I took my time in memorizing where the heck I left my car since Lady Jane wouldn't be any help in finding it. I walked up the Moors (a shopping district within city centre) and walked and walked until on the very farthest corner was the Gap. I had called ahead to make sure they still had the shirts and asked them to pull aside 2 of them. One of Little Man's friend's mother hadn't had a chance to find one either. She checked at Tesco so I knew not to go there. I offered to grab one for her while I was out since she works today and this week has been crazy with school. Anyway, back to the story. We arrived and got the 2 black shirts and a white one for 10 gbp. For dragging the girl around to various stores I got her a new summer dress. We paid, found the car lot, and realized that to pay I needed 2.10 pounds. Which I had. I needed them in pound, 50p, 20p or 10p pieces. I had exactly 1.90 pound in those denominations and a handful of 5p pieces. This is a machine. There's no one around and I'm standing there 20p short. Shortly a gentleman walked up and I asked if he had a 20p piece which he did thank goodness.
We got into the car and then I had to figure out how to get home from where we ended up. Thank goodness no one was behind me down the street I was shunted down out of the car park. I stopped at every intersection to try to figure out where I was on the map and how I could get back to Ecclesall Road. Needless to say, but I'm going to anyway, I made it home alright.
Now watch as history unfolds and Little Man won't fit a darn thing I have for him and tomorrow morning will be a mad dash back through the various stores to find the correct size. Of course, I think everything will be just fine.
Little Man has a dance performance through school on Thursday. They require him to have black jeans and a black t-shirt. Since the major supermarkets carried clothes I figured Sainsbury would have the basics. Of course, as history dictates I will be proven wrong. So this morning I went over to Matalan's (no easy feat to find this store from where I am) and they had black jeans but no black t-shirts and I looked hard. None in the little boy section, none in the little girl section, none in the men's section and none in the women's section (side note: there were some in the plus size women's section, but I didn't think they would shrink correctly). So I went next door to Next, no black t-shirts.
Now when I say black t-shirt, I mean one that has no print or cartoon character on it. Plain old t-shirt. Now yesterday while waiting for Little Man to get out of school. I was talking to another mother and she said that she had picked up the t-shirt at the Gap. Now, there are two Gaps in Sheffield. One is in Meadowhall which is severely damaged by the flooding and the other in smack dab in the middle of city centre.
I didn't mind going to city centre when we lived a couple of blocks outside of it and didn't have to worry about parking a car. Also, Phil took the SatNav with him to Cardiff. So I pulled up the city centre map and tried to figure out how to get to a parking lot close to the Gap. There are a lot of closed off pedestrian or bus only lanes in city centre. Add to that construction that has blocked off some routes. Then sprinkle on the fact that streets are very rarely labeled by street signs and if they are they are high up on the side of some building and when you're close enough to read them it's too late.
So Lady Jane and I hopped into the car and drove the route I thought I'd take. Damn history. The way I wanted to go was blocked so I circled around and found a parking lot. I took my time in memorizing where the heck I left my car since Lady Jane wouldn't be any help in finding it. I walked up the Moors (a shopping district within city centre) and walked and walked until on the very farthest corner was the Gap. I had called ahead to make sure they still had the shirts and asked them to pull aside 2 of them. One of Little Man's friend's mother hadn't had a chance to find one either. She checked at Tesco so I knew not to go there. I offered to grab one for her while I was out since she works today and this week has been crazy with school. Anyway, back to the story. We arrived and got the 2 black shirts and a white one for 10 gbp. For dragging the girl around to various stores I got her a new summer dress. We paid, found the car lot, and realized that to pay I needed 2.10 pounds. Which I had. I needed them in pound, 50p, 20p or 10p pieces. I had exactly 1.90 pound in those denominations and a handful of 5p pieces. This is a machine. There's no one around and I'm standing there 20p short. Shortly a gentleman walked up and I asked if he had a 20p piece which he did thank goodness.
We got into the car and then I had to figure out how to get home from where we ended up. Thank goodness no one was behind me down the street I was shunted down out of the car park. I stopped at every intersection to try to figure out where I was on the map and how I could get back to Ecclesall Road. Needless to say, but I'm going to anyway, I made it home alright.
Now watch as history unfolds and Little Man won't fit a darn thing I have for him and tomorrow morning will be a mad dash back through the various stores to find the correct size. Of course, I think everything will be just fine.
posted by Amanda @ 6:38 AM
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