THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994               TAG: 9410280506
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN      PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: YOUR TURN
SOURCE: BY BARRY SCHNOOR, SPECIAL TO HRW
                                             LENGTH: Short :   50 lines

BATTLE OF THE NECESSITIES SHE MAY LUST FOR NEW SHOES, BUT A POWER DRILL CATCHES HIS EYE

LOOKING THROUGH her closet for a shirt she had once borrowed, I noticed four suits that were nearly identical in color and pattern. Two of them were complete with price and garment tags.

Never worn.

I could not help but wonder how much she spent on clothes. And makeup. And perms. And Wonderbras. . . the cost of those things!

I retrieved my button down, which still reeked of $100 perfume. Deciding not to wear that shirt, I crumpled it up and threw it in the Laura Ashley hamper. Two hundred bucks for a place to put dirty clothes!

She earned the money. She earned the right to spend it on anything she wanted. But why all these expensive, useless items? The whole idea upset me. I decided to go for a drive.

I hopped in my '65 Mustang convertible, slipped a compact disc in the player and roared down the street. I heard that HQ Home Quarters Warehouse had a sale this afternoon. I needed a new drill. The one I owned only ran in two speeds, and it reversed direction only after flipping an awkward lever. Hardly sufficient for the real handy man. I picked up a cordless, four-speed, auto-reverse self-sharpening drill. Eighty bucks for a machine of this caliber was great!

I took it home and drilled some holes in a board. Cool! I carefully placed the new machine in its original box and put it on the shelf next to the inferior drill. I smiled. Satisfied.

``I'm going shopping, Barry,'' she waved on her way out the door.

``Whatcha gonna buy? Another gray-checkered suit?'' I laughed to myself.

``Don't know yet. I'll be back in a few hours.''

``How can you go shopping if you have no idea what you want to buy?'' I mused.

A few hours was right. She returned 3 1/2 hours later with a pair of designer shoes. Seventy-five dollars! I could have bought a new power tool with that much money!

Well, it only took me about 15 minutes to walk down the aisle and spot the bargain drill. It took her more than three hours.

But another pair of shoes? MEMO: Barry Schnoor is a resident of Virginia Beach. by CNB