DON'T GET TOO ATTACHED. . .

How often does it happen that just about the time you find something you really like, it becomes discontinued? I have had that happen to me with lipstick, breakfast cereal, and soup - -and that is just within the past six months. I also mentioned a few weeks ago that I couldn't find my favorite "Bells & Stars" Archway cookies this holiday season and was not very happy about it - - come to find out, the company filed for bankruptcy in October. I guess the sugary goodness of Bells & Stars will have to live only in my memory. Much to my dismay, I can now add my favorite scent from Bath & Body Works to that list of things that are a-goin' down in flames. The stores and online shop are selling the remaining inventory of Brown Sugar & Fig, but are not going to manufacture anymore once that stock is gone. Of course. I find something that I really like and soon it will be no more.

That is not to say that I will no longer be shopping at Bath and Body Works. I wonder if that store laces all their items with crack - - I will go in, just intending to buy one thing of hand lotion or perhaps some soap or hand sanitizer, and come out $50 poorer. They will inevitably have some sort of deal going on, and the salesgirl feels obliged to let me know how crazy-stupid I am being not to take advantage of it. I will set my two bottles of lotion on the counter and she will glance at it and say, "You know, if you buy just one more of those, you get a free pony." OK - maybe that's not exactly true, but what it usually amounts to is me spending $25 more than I intended to and walking out with a sack so full of body sprays and lotions that the strap has dug a spot into my hand before I've gotten ten steps past the entrance to the store. I do have a very impressive collection of Bath & Body Works items stored in my bathroom at home - - but also happen to have two little girls who have picked up on how important it is to "smell pretty," and insist on smellin' good before they leave for school each morning. We have done our share of economy-strengthening through our purchases at Bath & Body Works indeed.

I have to say though, that no matter how much I purchase, I can't stand the salesgirl who is the designated "basket pusher." The basket pusher is the lady who pursues you around the store and insists that you take a shopping basket for your wares. You can be holding a single bottle of lotion or sometimes absolutely nothing at all, and she is shoving a basket in your hands and smiling and saying, "take this - - take this! It will make your shopping so much EASIER!" What that translates to is that if I make it easier for you to load up on all this crap, my commission will be bigger when you go to leave, sucker.

Maybe Bath & Body Works will have scores of letter writers and phone callers letting them know how upset they are to have had Brown Sugar & Fig removed from their line and that they INSIST it be reinstated. Hmm...probably not - but it is a nice thought.

Goodbye, Brown Sugar & Fig - - I'll miss you!!

(perhaps if they had had a more attractive label for the product, it would have sold better?)