Return of the Layaway

MSNBC has a good article on the resurgence of the layaway, the once popular but now all but forgotten method of shopping where you had the store hold the items you wanted to buy while you paid them off in installments. Maybe it wasn't very popular with you and your family, but it was with me and mine. In today's world of instant gratification and financial over-extension, the layaway had no chance.

My memories of the layaway counter at the Marshalls in Springfield are distinct. My mom would do some shopping while I played underneath the clothes racks. She'd gather her items and we'd head to the back of the store rather than the front to complete the transaction. I never even knew that you could pick out clothes and walk out of the store the same day until I was in college. 

I have fond memories of those more humble times.