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I was somewhat disturbed today to see a shop called "Pre-Loved Baby Shop."
Actually, this whole rebranding of "second-hand" as "pre-loved" bothers me. I can see why people do it, since they think it makes an item sound more desirable. But it always makes me want to come up with stories about every item, to explain why the previous owner gave it away, even though they had once loved it dearly. Most stories end up fairly heartrending and full of drama. Some are quite legthy. At least when something's labelled "second-hand", my over-active imagination is content that no difficult parting was involved. I can accept that the owner found it in the back of a wardrobe and thought, "Yuck! I can't believe I used to like pink!" or that it was an unwanted present.
It's like uncollected dry cleaning shops. While I can understand that someone might part with a much-loved item of clothing because they've lost weight or grown out of it, why would you go to the effort of taking a suit to the dry-cleaner, then not bother picking it up again just a few days later? Yes, people forget, but these places do phone to remind you. No diet is that drastic. You're unlikely to suddenly wake up the day after taking it in, and shout, "Pink? What was I thinking? I will never wear pink again!" All the stories I come up with are tragic. Most involve death. At the very least, they involve heartbreak.
Actually, this whole rebranding of "second-hand" as "pre-loved" bothers me. I can see why people do it, since they think it makes an item sound more desirable. But it always makes me want to come up with stories about every item, to explain why the previous owner gave it away, even though they had once loved it dearly. Most stories end up fairly heartrending and full of drama. Some are quite legthy. At least when something's labelled "second-hand", my over-active imagination is content that no difficult parting was involved. I can accept that the owner found it in the back of a wardrobe and thought, "Yuck! I can't believe I used to like pink!" or that it was an unwanted present.
It's like uncollected dry cleaning shops. While I can understand that someone might part with a much-loved item of clothing because they've lost weight or grown out of it, why would you go to the effort of taking a suit to the dry-cleaner, then not bother picking it up again just a few days later? Yes, people forget, but these places do phone to remind you. No diet is that drastic. You're unlikely to suddenly wake up the day after taking it in, and shout, "Pink? What was I thinking? I will never wear pink again!" All the stories I come up with are tragic. Most involve death. At the very least, they involve heartbreak.
