Shades of Gray in Anna's Boutique

I've always wanted a pair of funky sunglasses, the cheap kind described by ZZ top. My eye sight was too crappy for cool, cheap shades. My shades were gonna have to be prescription and they weren't gonna be cheap. Fuggeaboudid. I got tints for my regular glasses. They functioned but weren't ourageous and/or cool like the shades that I routinely saw on other folks who had better vision.

Two weeks ago, my daughter Mary came to town from Boston. As usual we stopped in Birkdale for lunch and some people watching. We walked past several shops until we came to a shop called Anna's Boutique. The girls went in and I waited outside. I'm not generally a boutique kinda guy. 

After 10 minutes of watching Birkdale life, I decided to get out of the broiling temperature and join the girls in the boutique. When I walked in, Lynn and Mary were looking at summer clothes and enjoying themselves. To my amazement, a young woman noticed me. I thought she was gonna give me the "how can I help you" thing wondering what a guy like me might be doing in a place like this and hoping that I'd point to a wife or daughter.. In the nick of time, Mary came to my rescue. The young woman asked me if I would like something to drink while I was looking around. Flabbergasted, I asked her "what do you have?"

"Beer, wine, water, soda water" she answered with a welcoming smile.

"You kidding me?"

"No, we want our customers to enjoy their shopping."

"Let me see what you got."

She took Mary and me over to a mini-fridge near the dressing rooms. She opened the door and voila. I asked for a Diet Coke. Mary asked for a local beer. The girl reached in grabbed the Coke and the beer. She handed them to us.

"Enjoy"

This was a first for me. I wondered if it was even legal but I wasn't about to worry. I started sipping my Coke and really looking at the merchandise for sale. When we walked in, I had zero intention of buying anything. 

That's when I saw a rack of sungalsses for $14.95. I started to try them on and realized that I had a twenty dollar bill still in my pocket. HMMM.

I tried on several pair, the more outrageous the better. Mary and Lynn came over and I started putting sunglasses on them. We snapped picture after picture of each other in our temporary shades. I told Mary that I might actually buy a pair with my cash. She laughed and nodded her head.

What I didn't know is that  she had been thinking about buying me a pair of shades for Father's day. She had noticed the sunglass rack as we were passing the store and was in fact the reason she had detoured into Nina's in the first place.  She had gone to the young woman and explained that her father was waiting outside and she wanted to buy him some sun glasses to surprise him.  Mary put down her plastic. The young woman said, "They're all the same price. He can have whatever pair he chooses."

We tried on hats and scarves along with the shades. We were having a great time. The sales woman came over, I thought to bawl us out. She got in on the fun, trying on some glasses herself and some hats. We kept clicking pictures. Finally all the girls asked me which pair I liked the very best. I chose a pair. The sales girl said "are you sure"? I assured her that I liked that pair the best of all to which she replied "well, take them, they're yours."

Of course, I'm a suspicious kinda guy still wondering  about the hidden agenda behind the free Coke. Now somebody's offering me an item that I've been secretly wanting for 60 years. I began to hem and haw. That's when Mary started laughing and explained her prior plastic transaction. She said "Happy Father's Day."

I asked her if she had bought the drinks in advance to my entry.

She assured me that she had not and was as surprised as I when the offer was made.

Ever since I had cataract surgey on my eyes, I've had 20/20 vision. I can wear the shades and see perfectly. I love'em. It feels like starting over.

Whenever Mary comes to visit, we'll always go back to Nina's. Nina's is what Birkdale is all about.