Knock-off adventure

A recent conversation at the beauty parlor found me telling my story of 'Susan buys a knock-off Coach bag in China Town'.

Here is a recap:

Wonderful husband, Glynn, myself and my dad took a trip to New York City 3 years ago.

"P L E A S E buy me a Coach bag, mom!" begged our daughter. "You can buy knock-offs in China Town and no one will know it's a fake!" Having priced genuine Coach bags $300 a pop at the Manhattan Macy's, the only way Stephanie would get a Coach purse from me would be by theft or forgery... so we hopped on the bus to China town.

A myriad of people, smells, motion, color and sound assault the senses when one steps into China town. As luck would have it, we quickly found a street full of three sided shops selling nothing but bags. While Glynn rested against a light pole, I began to explore.

A tiny, grandma aged, Asian woman tapped my arm and asked (with heavy accent), 'Missy! You looking for purse?' She led me into a shop lined top to bottom with nothing but purses. A quick perusal of the inventory revealed no Coach bags so I turned to leave.

'Missy! You can't find purse?'
'No. I'm looking for a Coach bag.'
'Ohhhhh. Missy, you come with me.'

Little Asian grandma grabs my arm & leads me back into the bowels of the shop. She steers me around the back counter, past the cash register to the back wall where I see a door cut into the plywood. My heart begins to pound. Glynn is waiting for me out on the street. He has no idea that I'm soon to be entering into the bowels of New York City! Fleetingly, I wonder if I'll awaken in bathtub of ice minus one kidney already implanted in a patient waiting for organ donation. Or, will I be robbed, my throat slit, and body flung into a manhole, only to be found days later as flotsam and jetsam in the sewer....

I enter a room approximately 10'x10' with purses covering its walls. They are all designer bags! On one wall I see Louis Vuitton bags. One another Juicy Couture, Gucci and other names which likely didn't register with this 'I-buy-my-purses-at-Target' shopper. The room is staffed by a young, Asian American woman who helps me find a Coach bag that I hope my daughter will like. The price? $39.99.



So ends my China Town adventure. I'm alive and retained all my organs. And Stephanie can fool the world with her knock-off designer bag.