{"id":95404,"date":"2016-03-09T12:33:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T17:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=95404"},"modified":"2016-03-09T13:02:07","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T18:02:07","slug":"taking-inventory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/09\/taking-inventory\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Inventory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

False advertising, yes. But still.<\/p><\/div>\n

At the ninety-nine-cent store, I looked in vain for a bathtub stopper. \u201cCan I help you?\u201d asked a woman, presumably the owner. When I told her what I was looking for, she flew to a seemingly random shelf and began to scan it with a gimlet eye. She tried to give me a drain catch and then one of those flat rubber pads that covers everything, but I really wanted the sort with a chain. \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d I said, \u201cI can just go to the hardware store \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

At which moment she gave a triumphant cry and pointed to the stopper that was, indeed, hanging some six feet over our heads. Employing an impressive combination of hook, broomstick, and step stool, she managed to retrieve it as I looked on anxiously. \u201cHardware store, she says!\u201d she crowed. I\u2019d never actually heard anyone use that construction in modern life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long time since anything cost ninety-nine cents. I think the stopper was $1.99. But \u201cdollar stores\u201d they remain\u2014unless they cut a few cents in a bid for more business<\/a>\u2014and their selection and prices remain unmatched, at least in cities. Indeed, there are certain things you can only<\/em> find at these stores\u2014at least I can only find them there. Plastic basins, say, or those woven plaid bags. I\u2019ve stopped getting toothpaste there, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I was paying, I overheard another customer\u00a0ask about the availability of nutmeg.<\/p>\n

\u201cNutmeg?\u201d said a second employee. \u201cNo, we don\u2019t have that.\u201d (Which seemed to me a very reasonable answer, given that we were in a ninety-nine-cent store. Party hats? Yes. Drano, certainly. Spices? Probably not.)<\/p>\n

But then came the voice of the owner from among the narrow aisles: \u201cNutmeg!\u201d she shouted. \u201cNutmeg<\/em>! We have it! Don\u2019t you remember? You\u2019ve only worked here for twenty years!\u201d\u00a0She dashed out and readily procured a large and dubious-looking jar of nutmeg from a shelf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her employee, however, was defiant. \u201cYou know I don\u2019t know anything about school supplies!\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

Sadie Stein is contributing editor of <\/em>The Paris Review, and the <\/em>Daily\u2019s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the ninety-nine-cent store, I looked in vain for a bathtub stopper. \u201cCan I help you?\u201d asked a woman, presumably the owner. When I told her what I was looking for, she flew to a seemingly random shelf and began to scan it with a gimlet eye. She tried to give me a drain catch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[17036,12511,21447,21450,21446,21448,21449,6664],"class_list":["post-95404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-anecdotes","tag-city-life","tag-dollar-stores","tag-local-businesses","tag-ninety-nine-cent-stores","tag-nutmeg","tag-school-supplies","tag-shopping"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAdventures at the Ninety-Nint Cent Store<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie Stein visits the dollar store, where dreams come true.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/09\/taking-inventory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking Inventory by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 9, 2016 \u2013 At the ninety-nine-cent store, I looked in vain for a bathtub stopper. \u201cCan I help you?\u201d asked a woman, presumably the owner. 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