Unmentionables

My friend calls me at work the other day and asks, “I don’t mean to be rude, but… [the proverbial but]… what’s your bra size?” I laughed as I scanned the office to make sure no one was within hearing distance and answered her question. As it turns out, she had ordered a slew of bras online several months ago and just never got around to trying them on. Since that time, she’s lost some weight and now the bras don’t fit. They still have the tags on them but it’s too late to return them. This is definitely another Alaska anomaly.

You see, the nearest city with a department store is 80 miles away and even there, you can only find Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart, and Kohls. So, shopping locally for some items can get tough and many of us resort to online shopping with its size discrepancies, lost orders, and added shipping charges to Alaska (the last time I checked, USPS flat rate boxes were the same price no matter where you send them… so I really don’t understand this last problem). My friend, who shall remain nameless, was a victim of the online shopping frenzy and needed my help. No, seriously, she just wanted to find a good home for 17 surprisingly beautiful bras of different brands and colors, but all the same size – my size! Some were even lacy, French made bras – ooo lala.

So, she brought them to me in a discreet, nondescript, black bag (felt kind of like a drug deal) and I took them home to discover that they all fit and I won’t have to make that purchase for the next 20 years.

This led to, “I’ve been cleaning out my closet…” The next thing I know, she’s bringing me armloads of designer jeans, Chadwicks and Talbots brand slacks, shirts, sweaters, everything – all lightly used and some with the tags still on them. In all seriousness, this dear friend of mine is tall like me, 5’ 9”, and we were about the same size until she started this “Fit for Life” program a couple of months ago. It was so gracious of her to think of me and most of her clothes are nice and tall and long – something that’s difficult for me to even find in the big city, much less in Homer, at the end of the road.

I know that sharing is not unique to Alaska, but our pervasive need to share is. If we don’t share, we do without or we watch others do without. We can’t just run to the store for a new bra or pair of jeans. We not only share clothes, but we share sourdough starters, fish, road conditions, and sometimes even pets and kids. (very seldom do people share their moose meat, however)

Homer is surprisingly filled with most everything we need. Still, we are at the end of the road system and occasionally cut off from the rest of the world. Just this last week, there was a car accident on The Road (there’s only one road in and out of Homer) 45 miles or so away which closed the road and that meant that anyone traveling… well, anywhere… couldn’t get there from here… at least not for several hours, until the road was open again. There are ships in our harbor that won’t be leaving for the next few days because of weather. I haven’t heard any planes today and am sure they are grounded because of the high winds. But, it’s all okay, because Homer is a sharing place and we will welcome those “stuck” souls as best we can. I wonder if they need a new bra? Just kidding, after all, sharing is more than caring, it's loving.