Sale-ing with Christopher Columbus

Few people know that in addition to being a curious explorer, Christopher Columbus was also an avid bargain hunter. In fact, the word "sale" was coined as a tribute to him — the word was taken from "sail," but it's unknown why the spelling was changed. And to further prove the point, the ships Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were not named for former girlfriends as is widely believed, but for Columbus' three favorite vendors in the Spanish market (Pinta was a bookseller). And it's for these reasons that there are so many great deals to be had on this day.

And it's for that reason that I headed out to Wrentham today with my friend Dave to do a little shopping at the outlets. Of course, the sales were just one reason the place was packed. It was a bee-yoo-tiful day today (75 degrees or so), so who wouldn't want to be outside in that? And I cashed in: three ties (3 for $69!) and three shirts at Brooks Brothers; a pair of sneakers from Nike; and a pair of shoes, a sweater vest, and rugby shirt from Bass. Low outlet prices, plus 40 percent off here, 20 percent off there, an additional 15 or 10 percent with a VIP coupon, this sale, that sale ... Christopher Columbus would be so proud. All told, I spent about three hours at the Outlet Center (yes, I went into many more stores than those where I actually bought something), and despite some traffic getting out of there, I was back home in about 40-45 minutes. It was a very good afternoon.

(Alright, I made most of that up. As far as I know, there is no connection between Christopher Columbus and the sales held on Columbus Day, nor were his ships named for vendors in the, ahem, Spanish market — and shame on you if you believed any of that. Also, I didn't go to Wrentham today solely for the sales. I actually went out that way to visit and have lunch with Karen, David, and Judah in their new house in Franklin, which is a town or two over from Wrentham if you didn't know. On the other hand, I was truthful about what I bought at the outlets and about the masses who shopped with me and how long I was there, etc. And I did bring Dave with me — we're catching up after some time apart, thanks to his new CD and my new favorite song, "The Idea of You." So regardless of the overall veracity of this posting, it was a good, productive, and fun holiday day off from work.)