Back to School Shopping

I have spent the week observing my classmates dressed on various days in suits, some that would make Wall Street captains of industry jealous, which prompted my curiosity. It's fair to say that my usual dress of business casual is top of the line compared to my classmates, who usually sport jeans and sweatshirts. So, I had to stop a few and ask, "Not that you aren't always dapper, but what is with the suit?" They were meeting with their mentors, they all said.
Each St. Thomas Law student is assigned a practicing attorney (or judge) to mentor them and give them real world experience in the legal field. My mentor works for a non-profit that helps county and city governments become great leaders and servants for their constituents. I am not entirely sure what that entails, but I am excited to meet with her to find out. Since all my classmates have taken extra initiative to dress in their business-best, I figured I better do some shopping to pick up something suitable so that I, too, could make a good impression.
Andy and I hit the local mall yesterday to discover that hoards of families were doing back-to-school shopping as well because schools here start Tuesday after Labor Day. We looked for about 15 minutes for parking, which was nowhere near the stores we needed to visit, and then pro ceded to spend 4 grueling hours fighting our way to the racks of every store, tripping over clothes thrown on the floor and being elbowed as we squeezed out of doors back onto the sidewalk. In a word, it was insanity. I have worked my fair share of retail jobs at Christmas time, and let me just say this paled in comparison to Christmas Eve.
Which made me think, "What recession?" Are all these shoppers not feeling the impact of the economic downturn? Or are they simply living as though they aren't tight on cash. Wait, isn't that what got us in this mess in the first place? Americans are living on money we don't have to keep up appearances.
Well, in Great American fashion, I joined them and bought a classy dress that makes me look professional and polished, and makes me feel good, and I justified the slightly inflated cost by telling myself it is a quality, timeless piece that will help me down the road to get a good job and make good money. That's the right answer, isn't it?