Small World

I love clothes. I loved clothes when I was younger, became less enchanted by them during my child-bearing years, but rediscovered what fun clothes can be while we were living overseas. I fell in love with a store called Zara, which is a European chain that can be found on walking streets all over western and eastern Europe. Before we left Serbia, I made frequent runs to Zara, and stocked up on some summer frocks and tops that were on sale. I lamented having to leave Zara behind, as the store has clothes that are affordable, and that I really love.

Fast forward a few weeks. The kids and I and my parents were sitting in the drug store in downtown Boone, NC yesterday eating lunch, when a lady walked in wearing one of the shirts that I bought in Zara in Belgrade before we left. My jaw almost hit the floor. My first thought was that maybe there WAS a Zara in the States (perhaps in Chicago or New York?) and that maybe I could have a Zara fix without going back to Europe. This particular shirt is one of my favorites -- I can be seen wearing it on my Facebook profile picture, in fact. Nothing terribly special, but cute, and flowy and comfy. A favorite.

And so, I was faced with a dilemma. Should I approach this poor woman in the drug store and ask her where she got her shirt, or not? She appeared to be with her daughters and husband, and my initial inclination was not to bother her. However, several minutes later, after we had finished our lunch, and when her husband got up to go to the bathroom, I got a wild hair, and walked over, and asked -- rather sheepishly -- where she had gotten her shirt. Her response: Zara in Kuwait.

Now, you've gotta be kidding me. I'm sitting in the most Americana kinda place you can imagine, and a lady walks in wearing the same shirt that I bought in Serbia, and it turns out that she bought it in the same store, but in Kuwait, of all places! It turns out that this lady was a government contractor who lives in Kuwait. We shared our mutual love for Zara, standing right there in the middle of the Boone drug store. Go figure. It really is a small world, isn't it?