My Onesie...

[The following is a piece I wrote for the community newsletter that I thought warranted a blog post. Pictures to follow!]

In one of our lectures, we learned about the religion of consumerism. Our arjan even proposed that this was the most practiced religion in Thailand, second only to Buddhism.

We’d all like to say we’re frugal. We’d all like to say that we’re “conscious buyers”. But when it comes down to it, when you’re walking around the streets of Chiang Mai and you see something that catches your eye, you can’t help but promise yourself you’ll eat street food in favor of expensive pseudo-Italian for the next three days just so you can buy that perfect item.

For me, it was a onesie. Gray, with a slight hue of moss, amethyst, chartreuse, steel, wisteria --- whatever color you’re looking for, really! It was my idea of perfection, manifest in a garment; an elastic tube top with adjustable straps attached to a pair of high-waisted, loose, cotton pants with pockets(!) and elastic bottoms. It was displayed on a mannequin outside a (literal) hole-in-the-wall shop. I saw, I touched, I swooshed, I admired…

I walked away. I didn’t even look at the price tag. I saw the careful attention to detail of the items around the shop; I saw the quality of the fabric used; I saw a man handcrafting a bag in the back. No way would I spent the last of my stipend on a piece of clothing…I needed to eat lunch!

But my mind did not stray from that glorious item of clothing. I yearned like I hadn’t in a long time. “I deserve a treat,” I told myself. “I’ll at least go back and casually glance at the price tag…” So I did. And to my surprised, I saw three digits on the tag, and the first one wasn’t even higher than I could count on one hand! [Keep in mind, we're talking Thai Baht, here.]

But a onesie? My first onesie since I needed snaps around my legs to facilitate diaper changing. I mean, I did get those fleece spaceship footsie pajamas from my roommate’s mom for Christmas last year, but those are for special occasions! This, was no small deal.

As I tried it on in the make-shift changing room which consisted of a sheet pulled between me and the street-end of the alleyway-wide shop, I didn’t need a mirror to know that I would be eating cheaply for the next few days. As I made the transaction (which, like everything in Thailand, was lackadaisical), I was informed that it was the last one in the shop --- the last one in this line --- my last chance, and fate, working her magic.

And as I wore the onesie around town for the rest of the day, I knew I had found something special. One person said I was channeling an elephant, the animal closest to my heart; another was distracted from her advising session because of the awe-someness of me in my new prize; a random man on the street laughed as I walked by and I like to think it was because he was jealous. Me? I felt comfortable and f-a-b-fabulous for the rest of the day.

A word of advice to all shoppers in, and out, of Thailand, if the love you have for something is so strong that you’re willing to ration your food spending for the next few days, go for it! You have until the day you die to make up for uneaten food. It’s not every day that you come across a onesie that will make you feel fabulous for the rest of your life.

Happy in my onesie,
B(ee)