Fall in to The Gap

Founded in '69, The Gap was a local shop selling American-made Levi jeans and LPs to hip and groovy local teens. Today, GAP, as it is now known, is a global business ranked the third largest retailer in the USA. Gone are the records and tapes. Gone are the Levis. The current incarnation of the store seems to be about as bland as any other big chain--H&M, Old Navy, M&S, etc. In spite of that, I found myself at the downtown GAP location in search of jog bras one morning and this is what transpired--

The Gap, original location on Ocean Ave., SF  photo ca. 1970s

File this GAP experience under: No sh#t, Sherlock.

'These bras are for women'. This is what the sales woman told my husband after he'd asked on my behalf if there were jog bras to be found in her department. We'd been incorrectly sent upstairs by another employee (who seemingly does not regularly work at the Embarcadero branch) in search of sports bras. Upon first glance, it was fairly clear to us that this floor was reserved for kids' clothes & ladies' frilly undergarments. We spied an employee in the ladies' area, and, just in the off chance her section had what we were after, the hubs asked after running bras. 'These bras are for women'. 

I actually hadn't heard her response, only my husband's bemused reaction. I followed up his query with something like, 'Your colleague sent us up here'. This statement was met with a strange look by our gal, so we made our way to the exit.

It was only after we'd gone that I understood why this GAP employee had looked at me with both a pained & baffled expression on her probably usually blank face. She must have been wondering why her colleague had sent up a man (and his wife, ffs) interested in purchasing ladies' apparel. 

'These bras are for women'. Ah, bless.