Summary

The narrator begins this story by describing a scene in which she finds herself walking through Braden's, an "excellent" department store. She is fifteen years of age and a student at Baldwin Country Day School. The year is 1968.

As the narrator walks through the store, she pauses near the costume jewelry counter to look at the rings, earrings and necklaces. Although they are not expensive, the girl decides they are ugly, and so she moves on to the glove counter. Looking at the gloves, which she decides are likewise ugly, she looks around at the women shoppers; none of them seem to be in a hurry. A short time later, the girl finds herself at home being questioned by her mother. Apparently, the girl had been caught shoplifting a pair of gloves and was released to her parents because her father...