Swistle just posted a question about how best to tidy-ify her towels, and it made me think of my own towel dilemma. See, I want new bath towels. A completely new set of matching bath towels. Can I afford them? Actually, I don’t know. I probably can, but bath towels are probably one of those things that cost way more than they should. I wouldn’t know, as I have never bought a bath towel. I know that sheets sure are things that cost way more than they should, and towels are related items. I’m sure the awful, scratchy towels are quite affordable, though.
“You’ve never bought a bath towel?” you say. “Aren’t you, like, thirty?” Thirty-three, actually.* But see, here’s the thing. I’m a Yankee with Yankee sensibilities, and the towels we already have – most of which were wedding gifts – are still perfectly good. Do they match? No. Do they even come remotely close to matching? No. Do they at least complement the bathroom décor? No. Well, the two white ones do. But the rest? No. Not even a little bit. But do they successfully dry us off? Yes.
I only very recently allowed myself to get rid of the two towels I bought when I went to college. Oh, that’s right, I have bought a bath towel before. Two, even! But it was in 1994, so I can’t quite remember how much they cost. These towels were faded, ratty, and wildly frayed at the edges – and also FIFTEEN YEARS OLD – but whenever I considered getting rid of them I felt guilty because they still worked. They still absorbed moisture, and isn’t that what a towel is supposed to do, after all?
I finally was able to allow myself to relegate those two ancient towels to the rag bag, but I can’t seem to let myself get rid of the rest of the mismatched towels we have. The ones that we had before we were married (Andrew had several, and I had I think one other set that I only bought TEN years ago), and the ones that we got for our wedding that we don’t like. In fact, now that I write this, I realize we don’t like those towels because they do NOT absorb moisture particularly well and should therefore feel no guilt about getting rid of them. But they are the nicest looking towels we have since we hate them and never use them. See? Dilemma!
Sigh. I guess I’ll keep hoping they all accidentally get torn up in a freak laundry accident or something, and I can start over with a bunch of matching white towels that look pretty on my shelving unit. Stupid Yankee sensibilities.
*True story: I just had to ask Andrew how old I am, because I FORGOT. I thought I was thirty-two, but then I thought, “Wait, isn’t it 2009? Doesn’t that make me thirty-three?” The thing is, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure what year it was.**
**I am very sleep-deprived.***
***But I don’t know what my excuse was before.
11 comments:
I buy towels too often. It's a problem. :)
And I'm so with you on not knowing how old I am- I have to stop and figure out what year it is and when I was born and practically count on my fingers.
1. I also keep towels forever and ever, amen. Ask Liz about the blue towels I bought cheap in Philly and washed once, to have them fade to a lovely pink. I brought one downstairs and showed it to her, and said, "This is a blue towel." I should have probably taken it back for a refund, but...it was a perfectly good towel, even if it was pink. I think I still have it. I'm pretty sure it's in the closet, underneath my last peach towel from college.
2. I also forget how old I am on a pretty regular basis.
We are still using our wedding towels 7 years later. I did buy my husband 5 towels for when he would work out at the gym in the morning (they didn't provide towels and he went straight from the gym to work). So, we now use those for the kid's bathroom. But I still have my towels from 1996 too!
Every so often I buy new towels to replace some old, tattered towels, but then I don't get rid of the old ones because IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION THESE WOULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED GREAT TOWELS.
Make things out of the towels! We have three bath mats, some kitchen hand towels, and a tea cozy that all used to be towels or bigger towels. And the rattier ones of the not-yet-demoted are in the secondary bathroom. All you have to be able to sew is a straight line. Anybody who care can email me for particulars.
careS! Augh, I hate typos.
Delurking to say your title made me laugh. Thanks!
I thought this post was going to be about intergalactic hitchhiking!
Instead it's about something I can relate to more easily. I have my old bathrobe from about 4th grade (seriously, 4th grade) which is a hideous shade of green that I liked back then. I remember my mom telling me to be sure it was the color I wanted because she wouldn't get me a new one until this one was worn out. IT'S STILL NOT WORN OUT!!! It's the bathrobe that never dies and I can't get a new one because it's perfectly good.
You are not only a frood, you are a hoopy frood!
I too, have 2 towels left from when I went to college (although these were gifts). They are frighteningly ratty and I should get rid of them, but they are my "back-up" towels.
I also have a random collection of towels that don't match, that I didn't buy, which generally work pretty well, but would love to buy matching everything to spruce up my bathroom decor, but can't justify the expense!
I have a solution for you....donate your old towels to the Lowell Wish Project so you don't have to feel guilty about getting rid of them...they will go to people who have nothing. Then, go to HomeGoods and buy a bunch of soft white towels...they are not as expensive at HomeGoods as they are at Bed Beth and Beyond or department stores, but are really nice and soft and are much much nicer than the towels at Walmart....
I can SO beat you guys... We have one towel here that my dreaded MIL bought WHEN MY HUSBAND WAS 4 (just to hammer it home, that means 1968!!!) and yes, it's a bit thin, and yes, it's a bit frayed too, but you know what? It still dries...
We also have more modern ones from my husband's pre-me period (ones from, say, the 1970s) plus a whole collection of mine from when I was first a student (ie, 1987).
And they all still dry. And no, most of them don't match the bathroom or each other.
And we do have some truly modern towels (bought since 2000, say).
But we're broke, so I don't care!
Though nice, new, coordinated bath towels really would be nice!
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