Brooke, Idaho Falls, ID

Who: Brooke, 28

What: size small, 100% cotton preshrunk

When: February 2006

Where: Seattle, WA, the Space Needle

Why: One Monday morning, during my second senior year of college in Rexburg, Idaho, I woke up to go to class and ended up driving to Western Washington in a snowstorm instead (without telling my roommates I was leaving). I think some may call that a breakdown, but, it was more of a spontaneous solo adventure for me. My best friend was attending grad school in Tacoma, so, I decided to surprise her. I spend a week there and while she was in class, I adventured into Seattle. I was BROKE, but I figured I had JUST enough money to buy this t-shirt if I wrote a check and floated it just right. I was wrong. The t-shirt overdrew my account, but, instead of rejecting the purchase, it just charged my account $30 and let me keep going. The $2 parking pass was another $30 charge, as was the $6 sandwich on my way home. I still thought i was fine, especially when my friend lent me $50 to get home. I deposited that in my account (do the math, I was STILL in the hole) and continued to use my card, thinking I had that $50 to spend. $200 in overdrawn charges later, I still have this t-shirt to show for it. Good thing it's cool.