I'm totally coining the term "salesgay"

Yesterday I ventured out to brave the hordes at the Paul Smith sample sale. Paul Smith, for those not acquainted with overpriced British designers, is an overpriced British designer. But he's an overpriced British designer who specializes in fun prints and I enjoy that kind of stuff, especially if I'm not paying full price. For me, it's all about the discount. I am constantly galled at what people are willing to pay for stuff. Case in point, the Paul Smith key chain above. Cute, right?

It retails for $110.

It was the last day of the sale so everything was pretty picked over, but I managed to score some deals largely due to the fact that everything was an additional 50% off and the workers were tired. I grabbed a pretty pale blue cashmere square and, thinking it was a scarf, tried my damndest to wrap it around my neck. Finally I grabbed a cute, well-dressed salesgay and asked him what it was.

"THAT is a travel blanket! You just gather it around your neck when it gets cold!"

I tried to recall the last time my neck got frostbite mid-flight but drew a blank. Clearly I come from hearty stock.

"Only $50!"

I sheepishly handed it back. The salesgay nodded sympathetically and whooshed off to straighten some flip-flops.

After much scrounging I managed to find a cute striped scarf, a green houndstooth Sherlock Holmes hat, a blue and white striped blouse, and some surprisingly cute etceteras. I spread them out and flagged down my favorite worker to ask the prices.

He sighed, tearing himself away from the cufflinks. "This blouse is from our Black Label. It was $220... I'll do $25."

I knew there was a reason I liked this man.

Next up, the houndstooth cap.

"Today all hats are $10."

I glanced at the $195 price tag still dangling from the side and gave God a silent shout-out.

Next he held up my tchochkies."If they try to charge you $10, tell them I said they were $2."

I wanted to marry this man.

Finally, he grabbed my scarf. Fingering it for a minute, he said, "This one's $20."

I eyeballed it for a second. It was cute and probably cost a Franklin at full price, but $20...

Sensing my hesitation, my fairy god-gay whispered, "I'll give it to you for $10. I so don't want to pack this stuff up."

SOLD!

The way I figure it, that's like a 95% savings. Which leads me to Knowledge Nugget #3:

I loves chatting up a gay sales clerk.