Archive for August 22nd, 2009

Credit to tigress1 of stock.xchng

Well it’s that time of year. Living in a house with six other people who are also in the midst of their educations, it is inevitable: those days, summer waning, when people run about gathering uniforms and making lists, getting classes, making late night runs to Ross to get gym shorts, arguing about who has the worst teachers, frantically running about like Scarlett O’Hara – “The Yankees are coming! The Yankees are coming!”….”School is starting! School is starting!”

Did we get everything on those grade school supply lists? Is the ninth grader in the right language class? Do we have enough fruit for lunches? The editor is starting a new job, and has to be gone every day going to what sound like pretty boring meetings, then rushing to set up her classroom. Mr. Cassella doesn’t start for a week or so, but you can tell he’s sorry the summer is over. Heck, we all are. The boys realize all too late that today is their last day of freedom – but is it? They are doing summer essays, digging up sports equipment, and generally going through a wringing of hands.

Meanwhile, I am deciding where to live, the youngest children’s ride fell through and we need to choose a school for them to go to from which they may be picked up easily, and the oldest of the family, here for a few weeks before starting graduate school, is depressed because she doesn’t start school for a month.

It never ends. School lists, books, supplies, uniforms. So much money to be spent! Ross, Wal Mart, Famous Footwear, Office Max, calling Grandma to get the few things we couldn’t find…Everyone needs shoes (that’s about 7 pairs…), notebooks (we’re talking dozens at that point), and thinks they need all kinds of other things. The ninth grader tries to help – “I don’t need a new graphing calculator at least!”

Meanwhile, I am on my own frantic search – to get a hold of the head of the Honors program at TCU so I can get my classes. It’s Friday afternoon. Classes start Monday. I sit in the office, waiting for the receptionist to come back from lunch so she can introduce me. A guy walks in, chats with the woman I need to see for twenty minutes. I start to get restless. I cough. I move. I’m here! Take care of me! This is urgent, I need classes! Finally, I am rescued. Introduced. “This poor girl has been calling the office every day this week, can you see her about her schedule?” The director looks nervous, thinks, then starts talking fast. We get things done – at the end, she apologizes for the rush, for my wait. “It’s been so crazy with meetings and everything before school starts.” I look her in the eye. “I am one of 6 children. My mother is starting to teach at a new school. My stepfather is returning to UNT. Everyone starts school this week. Trust me, I understand.”

Yesterday, today and tomorrow is the annual Sales Tax Holiday. There will be no sales tax (of 8.25%) on the following items:

• Clothing and footwear under $100
• Backpacks under $100 for elementary and secondary students
• Schools supplies including paper, binders, crayons, lunch boxes, etc.
• Includes layaway items

I was not able to put off shopping for all the kids until this weekend. I already bought (with a little help from my friend, my mother) all the school supplies, and all the clothes. All that remains is the annual Famous Footwear trip. This Famous Footwear trip alone can be almost as much as the rest of the clothes and supplies.

What do we buy? Nikes, Sketchers, Aasics, Adidas, Converses, maybe a pair of Pumas or New Balances, plus a pair or two of work shoes for the adults. How much do we hope to save? Well, it’s buy one get one for half price, resulting in an overall reduction of 20% or so (because they take the half off the cheaper pair.) Then we’ve got a 20% off coupon, now we’re at 40% Then the sales tax for another 8.25% reduction. Overall if we do it just right,  it will work out to a reduction of almost half the price of the shoes.

I’m not convinced, I must admit to you, that the shoes haven’t been marked up 2-300% to prepare for my clever bargaining. Since when did it cost $80 to put together a pair of mid-range Nikes in a third-world country where workers make just fifty cents a day? Nevertheless, we live in this society, so the annual family “shoe binge” is inevitable. My kids are Americans, they need their athletic shoes. The choices they make will tell everyone, the first day of school, who they are, even if there are five other kids in their grade with the exact same shoes.

Our local Famous Footwear store is in the mile-long strip mall with OfficeDepot, PetCo, HomeDepot and TJMax just north of the intersection of the 820 and Hulen Blvd. If you go there this afternoon you might see us. We’ll be the family with the 6 foot tall son who claims he needs a pair of $100 shoes because there are no other shoes in the store that are “right.” He is like a Gila Monster — once he gets ahold of his prey he will let go. His parents can either buy the shoes or leave him in the store forever.

For a detailed description of the sales tax holiday rules, see Window on Texas Government, 2009 Sales Tax Holiday.