"Mechelle" VS "Clothing N Sales"
The untold story of the UnOfficial "Sit In", by yours truly.

***For those of you who do not know what clothing and sales is, I'll do a quick break down for you. 1)AAFES, aka, Army and Air Force Exchange Services. 2) It's just a store that is located on Military bases. 3) Clothing and Sales is a store ran by AAFES that is also on base. 4) Clothing and Sales is where you go to but Military Uniforms, gear and misc items. Are we on the same page now? I hope so because I am not gonna explain any further. Sorry!

So I woke up Saturday morning and told my husband that I was planning on doing nothing today. But then I remembered that I had a million things to do. One of them being, going to Clothing and Sales to buy some new ACU uniforms for my husband (which I do every few months, because no one likes tacky ass looking soldiers) and all the crap that goes on them. Which I will later put it all on the uniforms. And my husband says, "Oh Mechelle, you don't have to do that. I'll deal with it on Monday" and I replied, nah its fine. If I wait for you to do it, it will be a month before it gets done.

So I venture on over to clothing and sales and purchase the following items.

(4) ACU Tops $178.60
$44.65 each

(4) ACU Trousers $176.40
$44.10 each

(5) Velcro American Flag patches $6.00
$1.20 each

(5) Non Velcro Name tapes $11.25
*that I had to have made while I waited 20 minutes
$2.25 each

(5) Non Velcro US Army tapes $11.50
$2.30 each

(3) Non Velcro Sergeant Ranks $6.30
*2 come per package, so (6) total
$2.10 each

(3) Non Velcro Recruiter Badges $52.50
*2 come per package, so (6)total
$17.50 each

Just in case you have not done the math, the grand total is $442.55
That is what I spent that day at clothing and sales. So I now had enough merchandise to fully put together (5) ACU sets. There was a brand new set still at home that's why I only bought (4) ACU sets but enough flair for (5) ACU's. Then that would still leave me with (1) extra Recruiter Badge and (1) extra Sergeant Rank.

*Note, I do this 4 times a year. I do this for a few reasons. 1.Because I hate sloppy looking soldiers with disgusting uniforms. If you cant keep your uniforms up, then get the hell out the Army! 2.If you buy new uniforms through out the year, you will never have a crap ass uniform. 3).I always write the dates of purchase on the tags of the uniforms so we know which ones are older and newer. And we rotate the uniforms. This way you are always wearing a nice uniform and you have plenty of them in case one or two are ever ruined.

So every year on average, we spend $1,170.20 for (16) complete uniforms. This does not include the odds and ends we may have to pick up from time to time. Granted my husband does get a clothing allowance once a year, it is no where near $1,170.20. Soldiers are given clothing allowances once a year so that they can keep up their uniforms. The amount you get depends on a few factors. Basically the longer your in and as you climb up the ranks, the more $$$ you get. Are we all up to speed? Good. So now I will finish my story.

So now I go back home with a bag full of goodies and a credit card that is literally gasping for air. Even though I always buy the same sizes I still ask him to try them on just to make sure they didn't change the way they fit or I grabbed a wrong size by mistake. All (4) tops fit perfectly and only (2) trousers fit. RUT ROE. So it's cool. I'll just go back on Monday and exchange them for the right sizes. Right?

So in the mean time, I spend the next 8 hours ripping velcro off of the uniform tops with a razor blade, You ask why? (because Velcro is tacky. If your gonna do something, do it the right way. And I do it the right way! It may take a while and it may be a pain in the ass, but I ain't about doing things half ass). So velcro is flying, needles are being threaded and I'm bitching every time I stick myself with a needle. (Yes, I do this by hand. Sewing machines are for the weak and lazy, and I am not either). So 2 spools of thread, 5 needle's, 3 razor blades and about a half ounce of my blood later, we have 5 perfectly put together ACU tops. Bravo to me!

So now Monday is here. Easy Breezy, Right? WRONG! So I am at clothing and sales and walk up to customer service and tell them that I was just in here recently and bought some stuff and got the sizes wrong on a couple pair of trousers and that I need to exchange them out for the right sizes. And I am asked where my receipt is and I said, to be honest I have no idea. I will assume in the trash somewhere. And the lady told me, "Well I am sorry but I need a receipt in order to return these" and then I say, well I don't want to return them, I want to exchange the for a different size and also I shouldn't need a receipt because for 1)The lady at that register will tell you that I came thru her line and bought all this junk on Saturday and 2)I put my purchase on my Military Star Card, so I am sure you can verify that I indeed bought these items and I did not boost them from your crap ass store, (Yes! I did say this to her). Oh! The look on her face was priceless. She then says "ma'am, I do not appreciate your language or your attitude" and then I reply, well I don't appreciate the way your face looks but you don't hear me complaining. I can promise you the whole store went silent. You could hear a pin drop if one had.

At this point I realized that I was gonna be here a while. And good thing for me, I had all the time in the world and there was about 26 soldiers in the line behind me who were all going to want to stick around for the show I was about to give for free. Before I go on, let me say that I am notorious for being the main reason for a number of firings, immediate PCS's and a few minor other things at Fort Hood. I don't mess around. I am not here for your entertainment or amusement. I am here to get my shit done and if you cant assist or your in my way, I suggest you back the fuck up quick because I have no filter, a lot of anger issues and anxiety like you wouldn't believe. So I stood there for a moment to think about what my next move was in case this bitch wasn't giving what I wanted.

In the mean time the lady asks for my Star Card so she can look up the purchase. Then she gets on the phone and before I know it, I went from looking at one bitch to three bitches. But its cool because I don't spook that easily. So now the store manager is telling me that I have never made a purchase in her store with my Star Card. Oh really! Well your computer is obviously wrong and she says no, I am looking at your account and you have made not one purchase at my store. So then I say, uh does that mean I don't have to pay my bill? And she said, you don't have a bill because you haven't used your card. OK, well I guess the Army fairy came by my house and has just been giving us all this shit for free? Ma'am, there's no need for your tone. Well, theres no need for someone with a GED telling me shit they don't know. Yup! I did. So now I am just pissed and I refuse to deal with these people anymore. And I really needed some time to cool off before I ended up in jail and those bitches ended up in the emergency room. So what do I do next?

Yup! That's right, I demonstrate a "sit in" at clothing and sales. I sat right there on the floor and would not move. So as I sat there I had some serious thinking to do. All for a 2 pair of trousers. Was it worth the hassle, NOPE. Was it worth the principle, OH HELL YEA!
I am at about hour number 2 and I am getting a bit hungry so I decide that I need a snack. So I stand up and buy me a butterfinger ice cream bar, sit right back down and eat it. I talk on the phone a bit, listen to some music on my phone, send some texts and continue to hang out. Now, I am at hour 3 1/2 and I am seriously hungry so I get up and walk out. Every employee was probably thinking, finally that crazy lady is gone. HA HA HA HA HA, that joke is seriously on them because oh I will be back. So I walk across the street to Burger King and buy me a Large #5 and walk back over to clothing and sales.

As I walk in, I can tell they ain't very happy. But you know what, neither am I. I can assure you that I have other things to do then waste my time at this place. But I am hard headed and I don't back down ever, especially if its to prove a point on Fort Hood. I have a reputation to uphold. So its back to the floor for my unofficial "sit in" while I eat my #5 and still continue to think about how I am going to get these pants exchanged. Granted I know plenty of people on Fort Hood that I could call, I like to save up all my IOU's and cash them all in at once. So I think, well maybe I will just call the AAFES Headquarters and have a nice chit chat with them. So as I am eating my #5 and googling where the headquarters is a smile just appeared on my face when I read that the headquarters is in Dallas,TX.

Ive always said, sometimes you have to think outside the box and my personal favorite. Its not what you got, its who you know and what they got. I now had no reason to cash in on my favors here at Fort Hood. I had one better. Finding out that headquarters was in Dallas was now the answer I had been looking for and my way off this damn dirty ass floor. You ask why? I can and will promise you that this is a good one. Far better than all my other wars and wins on Fort Hood. I was defiantly going down in history for what I was about to do. And I could Thank my husband later for this because at the moment I had a phone call to make. To who you ask? Funny story. About a year ago my husband was really bummed out because his boss and bff was moving and his new boss was, well I'm not gonna go there.

So the day my husband came home and told me how unhappy he was with his new boss and really missed his old boss. I asked, well did she retire? And he said no, she transferred to Dallas. And I said how, there is no Army base in Dallas? Then he tells me that she got some dream job working for Aafes in Dallas at the headquarters. Too bad I didn't remember this 4 1/2 hours earlier. So I made one phone call to my husbands favorite Master Sergeant and in return I got to exchange my 2 pair of trousers, got 1 pair on the house, a public apology in front of all the customers and a smile on my face. My day went from being good, to horrible, to damn near perfect. I go home tell my husband about my "sit in" and the whole Dallas thing and all he could do was smile and say oh, I have to call Sgt 1st class, Cunningham and tell him about this.

Another Triumph at Fort Hood for Mechelle Gonzales.