The Great Aeropostale Debate -- With or Without the "T"?

The debate in my house for almost a week now has been how to pronounce the name of the popular clothing store, Aeropostale.  Do you pronounce the T or not?  My oldest says without, and my youngest says with.  These girls are only nineteen months (11 & 12) apart and are at the age where they can bicker about anything or nothing. 

Usually I can break their feud with my opinion being the tie breaker, but not this time.  I've always pronounced the name without the T.  As a teenager, all my friends did, too.  It may have been due to my geographic location.  I don't know.  This answer didn't satisfy my little one who told me "You people just don't know about this kind of stuff anymore."  The image of the fence came rushing to the front of my mind again.  See earlier post.

She told me she'd prove she was right and bring home hard data from school.  She was sure everyone in her (advanced) fifth grade class pronounced the T.  A tally mark list would be her proof.  My 7th grader took a poll of her friends via text message.

Their results are in.  It was unanimous in the fifth grade.  Aeropostale is pronounced with a T.  Of my seventh graders close circle of friends, 80% pronounce it with a T. 

These results are backed by Wikipedia's pronunciation of the word.  However, I don't know if I'm truly convinced. Everyone that I know (from my generation) drops the T.  And when we shopped their  Wiregrass location in Tampa on Friday, their own employee greeted us, "Welcome to Aeropostale," without pronouncing the T.

I guess this means the subject is still open for debate.  Is Aeropostale pronounced with or without the "T"?  I'd like to hear from you.  How do you pronounce, Aeropostale?

- Heather Tweet

It's Hammer Time & The Wooden Fence

Since Target is two minutes from my house, I am in there almost on a daily basis for something we've run out of.  However, yesterday I was stopped dead in my tracks as I was overcome with a severe case of Deja vu.  A late 80's flashback took over my mind in stereo. U Can't Touch This (click here to relive the video) started playing in my head over and over again.  My twelve-year old fell in love with a pair of pants (click here to view) similar to what I wore in 1988 to 1989. Although the style's been updated, the baggy principle is still the same.

My eleven year old was thoroughly repulsed by the newest style and the fact that I may have worn anything resembling such a fashion don't, in her opinion. Explaining to her, clothes like this were the hottest thing and people like MC Hammer wore them didn't help my cause.  "Macey who?" she replied. 

My eyes grew large, and my life flashed before my eyes with her comment.  In my mind, I could see the wooden fence.  In the next instant, I saw myself  on the other side of the fence.  The same side of the fence MY mom was always on.  The side my grandma and The Aunts were on.  The place where the grass wasn't greener.  The place where people, whom I've always loved dearly, were to be treated with respect but were just a little out of touch with the real world.

As horrifying as my realization was, I still chuckled at the fact that I could remember those harem pants like it was yesterday.  They were neon purple, and I wore them everywhere.  And I don't feel any older now than I did then.  I certainly don't feel as old as those people on the other side of the fence have always been.

However the truth remains, my daughters have become me, and I am now the mom on the other side of the fence.  No matter how much I want to deny it, the proof looks me in the eyes everyday in the form of their two beautiful faces.

My question is this.  How many of you can still remember the color of your harem/parachute pants?  Better yet, how many of you still own yours? Tweet