Vanilla

My mother-in-law used to work at a jewelry store. She worked with a salesman who never - and I mean never - held back his opinions. He could throw an insulting remark at anyone without a moment's hesitation. He had a flamboyant personality and a knack for disguising his jabs as humor. However, if you happened to be the unlucky recipient, those jabs packed a punch.

Once, he told my then-teenage sister-in-law that her pantyhose were so baggy she looked like an elephant. Do you remember your teenage years? When looks and approval were critically important to your well-being? Clearly, this guy didn't. Or he didn't care.

I first met this man  - we'll call him Brad - when shopping for wedding bands in 2002. I pretty much knew what I wanted. A white gold band with tiny inset diamonds. I found the band right away. But Brad wouldn't hear of it. He steered me to the other side of the store, energetically pointing out larger and larger rings. Gaudy rings. Rings that suited wealthy, middle-aged socialites. Rings that would never mesh with my "jeans & t-shirts" personality. I told him so.

He wrinkled up his nose and looked down at me. "Oh, I see," Brad stated, "You are just vanilla."

Given his history of customer insults, I got away pretty lucky. Although to him, vanilla was probably as suitable as a dirt clod.

But you know what? Vanilla was exactly what I had in mind. So I shrugged my shoulders and marched myself back across the store. We purchased the wedding band I had selected within seconds of walking through the door. Almost 8 years into my marriage, it is still the perfect one for me.


"The simplest things are often the truest" -- Richard Bach, writer

I like simple. I like jeans and sweatshirts. I wear the same earrings nearly every day. I'll choose comfy shoes over sultry & stylish any day. I'm a meat and potatoes kind of girl. Uber-fancy restaurants with foods I do not recognize are totally wasted on me.

I know I'm not the prettiest or trendiest girl out there. But I'm not a hot mess, either. I am who I am, and what you see is what you get. I am simple. And true.


This is another post for MamaKat's Writer's Workshop. This week, my post was inspired by her prompt: "simple".