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The Dress

Summer time in the new digs has been interesting. I grew up where temperature swings were pretty mild, so I've never really had to deal with actual seasons. I don't own a large number of shorts, nor do I have a winter coat. I basically have clothes that I wear all year round, and I stack/layer them as necessary. It works out fine most of the time, but I still don't think about these things reflexively.

The Mild Fiancée, on the other hand, grew up where summer time temperatures would routinely reach triple digits. That sort of weather makes an impression on you, and it teaches you some habits. From what I understand, some days were spent doing as little as humanly possible to try to minimize any sweating or humidity loss. The pertinent part of this story, however, is that she dresses according to the seasons. Summer dresses are a thing for her.

Well, I happened to get her a dress for her birthday. It was actually a bit of a failure on my part, because the brick and mortar store didn't have it in stock and the online store shipped it to the wrong address (side note: I take serious issue with a website that automatically changes the shipping address without telling you). Still, she ended up getting her dress, and it worked out. In fact, she really likes that dress. I've seen her wear that dress multiple times this summer.

Now, I'm a fan of this particular outcome, for two very simple reasons. One, I'm glad she's getting some very real utility out of her present. At the end of the day, it makes me happy that she likes it. It sure beats the alternative. Secondly, I think she looks good in it. So, I'm selfishly happy when she wears it when we're out and about. It's a win-win for everybody.

In fact, it's also a win for other people. The Mild Fiancée and I were out and about a while ago, and she was wearing this very same dress. We were walking around a downtown area, not doing anything particularly interesting. We'd just gotten done with an errand, so we were crossing the street to get back to the car. All was very normal, until:

Driver: "Excuse me?"
(we turn)
Us: "Yes?"
Driver: "Where'd you get that dress?"

Let me pause the flashback for a moment here. At this point, the car was stopped at a red light, and we were crossing the street right in front of this car. The lady not only noticed the dress, she made a point to stop us to ask about it. And she didn't just roll down the window, she darn near got out of her car to have this conversation. Getting back to our story, it got even funnier:

Mild Fiancée: "Oh, from [Store]."
Driver: "I knew it! I told [passenger in the front seat] that it was from there. I told him so!"
Mild Fiancée: "Haha, yeah it's from there. [Sam] got it for me!"

I don't know if they had a bet going or something, but the whole thing cracked the both of us up. We didn't exactly have time to stop and have a full blown conversation, but that little slice of time was more than enough to put us in a good mood. Talk about being worth the money.

Best of all, the Mild Fiancée would later point out that her dress stopped traffic. How many of you can legitimately say that? I may learn to embrace this whole summer wardrobe thing.

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