By LEE SCOTT
My husband and I recently went to one of those craft stores so he could get a picture framed.
While he was busy, I decided to wander around the store.
I came upon two young teenage girls discussing the decorating items they needed. I assumed it was for their bedrooms, until the mother of one of the girls said, “Meg, I am not paying for any of that stuff!” Her daughter responded, “But Mom, it’s for my school locker.”
I looked at the mother and asked, “Her locker?”
Evidently there is now an industry built around decorating one’s school locker.
I looked down the aisle and spotted a large selection of magnetic wallpaper. There were themes for sports, music, and academics. Then of course, one must change out the wallpaper for the various holiday seasons.
And that was not all. There were magnetic mirrors, wooden locker shelves, all kinds of decorative magnets with flowers, animals, and symbols. You could even find locker curtains and cute little magnetic chandeliers. (REALLY!)
As I stood there gawking, I started to recall my own high school locker. I believe it had one metal shelf and two hooks. That was it.
When I got into my locker it was to exchange books and grab my coat. The only real form of decorating might have been a school calendar taped to the inside of the door. And as I recall, everyone else’s were just as boring.
“I did have to buy a lock though,” I told the mother.
Then she told me about her own school locker. She was younger and by the time she went to school, kids were using magnetic plastic letters inside their lockers and they had started to carry bookbags. She said it was a challenge shoving the bag, a coat, and gym uniform into the skinny lockers.
She also recalled how easy it was to change out “I love Todd” to “I love Bill” when there was a breakup using her magnetic letters. I told her that in my day, girls would write on the wall in the girl’s locker room. It might be “I love Mikey – 4 Ever” only to have to scratch out Mikey’s name down the road.
Then came the piece de resistance. As we stood there laughing, her daughter Meg walked up with a white fluffy carpet for the bottom of the locker. It looked like something Marilyn Monroe would have in her dressing room. I walked away as her mother rolled her eyes.
Later, when we were leaving the store, I saw the mother subsidizing the daughter’s $40 bill.
“You owe me,” she said to Meg.
“What was that about?” asked my spouse.
“You wouldn’t believe it!”
