6.14.2007

Greetings from the grocery store
So I warned you that I might just resort to telling you about the state of our laundry and mowing the yard since nothing interesting has been happening lately. Lucky for you, I've got something even better than that: our trip to the grocery store last night.

I know, I know, you can hardly contain yourselves but please take a moment to regain your composure and continue on.

We ventured out to the dreaded grocery store last night as our kitchen was becoming extremely bare. Our refrigerator was truly a sad sight. We probably could have actually turned it off to conserve energy and it would have been no different.

Anyway, you'll never guess who was at the store last night, so I'm just going to tell you. We saw two live, in the flesh, Renaissance men. As in, like, the people who dress up in full costume and go to festivals and such. These types of people frighten me a great deal, but to see real live ones cruising the aisles of the grocery store like it was nothing was just... odd.

Nick and I refer to Renaissance dressers as Rennies, just as you'd call carnival folk Carnies. So these two Rennies bought their groceries and slipped out ahead of us, but we hustled so we could catch up and see if they left in a car or on horseback or something. (It was just a regular old car and was very disappointing.)

So I've been thinking about this sighting for a while and have been a bit disturbed. I am aware that there is a Kansas City Renaissance Festival every year (sadly, I've even been a few times -- but don't judge because the food is soooooo good!). A quick investigation shows that it doesn't start until September, which is quite a ways off. This leaves me wondering then if they dress like this all the time, not just on special occasions such as festivals. Do they live amongst us and I've just never noticed before? Or were they merely passing through from one Renaissance festival to the next? And isn't it really uncomfortable to wear all that extra garb all the time?

I could understand how Rennies probably feel like they are in their element when they are at a festival or something similar, all dressed alike in tights and baggy shirts, with decorative horns and canteens adorning their belts. But don't they ever want to change when they go somewhere else, like say, the grocery store? Maybe just slip some jeans or sweats over their tights or something? But then I think that perhaps they just live their entire lives in period clothing and they don't actually have two different personas, just one kind of creepy Renaissance side. I guess for some people it's an entire lifestyle, not just a hobby on festival days.

Either way, it did make our grocery shopping experience quite a bit more interesting, so I hope we see them out and about again sometime soon. Maybe they'll be out getting ice cream, or at the movies, or even at Starbucks and we'll run into them again. I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled and my camera by my side this time.

3 Comments:


Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is too funny, if only there were pictures... at least they made your grocery shopping a little more interesting!


Blogger Unknown said...

Hahaha! Even though you have no photographic display of the Rennies... I have the most hilarious picture in my head, complete with a Robin Hood-esque hat with a feather. :)

xox


Blogger Aimee said...

That's terrific. I guess there are "styles" out there that don't transition well in real life. hehe.

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