There are these ads that come on TV late at night when I'm watching Cosby Show reruns that are definitely geared toward me - it's these two "best friends" that are raving about this little shop called "Plato's Closet" in South Bend. The idea behind why this store is so great is because you take your gently used clothes to the store in exchange for immediate cash and then can also buy great, slightly used clothes very inexpensively. The store is actually somewhere I'm planning on going tomorrow, but what really got to me about this ad is the stupidity of the girls in it - they actually have a few lines at the end where one girl says the shirt she's wearing was her friends before and the friend says the sweater she's wearing was once the girl's - implying they went to "Plato's Closet" in order to buy their "best friend's" stuff! How incredibly dumb! I mean if it were me and I was no longer going to wear something, instead of taking it to some thrift store for her to buy back, I'd just give it to her, and if I was selfish, just have her pay me a few dollars directly.
So when I next saw the ad the question of what is something we think could be improved or started was answered. I immediately thought why can't girls in Lamson set up a system where they don't have to go out and buy new or used clothes and such, they can just borrow from each other, or just buy directly from each other! We could have a website where you could place “ads” for what you were looking for, say a belt or a purple sweater, the size of the item you need, and when you would like to have it by, in case you needed it the next day the girl who has those things would get back to you promptly. Then those girls could respond to your ad with what they could supply you with and how long they would allow you to keep it. It seems almost perfect, but that’s in an ideal world.
But then I though about it a little more and the idea could fail in a lot of ways - I mean what if someone dirty borrows my clothes, or someone mistreats or breaks the clothes, or I borrow clothes from someone and I catch a rash or something - nasty!! We could require “customers” to wash the clothes before returning them, but how could we be completely sure that they did so, and what about in the case of garments that require dry cleaning. A small fee could be charged so that the facilitator of the program could hire people to be in charge of the proper washing and dry cleaning, but then many of the potential “customers” would find it wiser to invest in that item themselves instead of repeatedly renting it. Plus, with different people employed in the business, fees could begin to mount.
Then it seems that this idea would have to be based on the honor code – we trust that the supplier is providing clean clothes and is clearly stating any damages that the garment has previous to being “rented” (they could fill out and sign a form stating the above before each lending occasion, specifying a date for the item to be returned) and the customer is returning the clothes washed and with no damages, but not dry cleaned if that is what the garment requires (they too could fill out and sign a form that explains that they are returning the item by the date specified, washed and with no damages). Then in the case of a disagreement between the two, a third party who is voluntarily in charge, such as a Lamson employee, could review these forms and solve the problem. In the case that one does not meet the requirements, they would have to pay to replace the clothing or pay a fine for whatever condition they did not meet and either be put on public probation or expelled from the group.
You might say that this idea is a tad far-fetched, but with the heart to help of many of the Lamson women I think it could potentially be a success.
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