Briefs or Boxers

According to this story by Ylan Q Mui in The Washington Post today, men’s underwear purchases may be yet another barometer of the economic recovery.

“Here's the theory, briefly: Sales of men's underwear typically are stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing underwear sales to dip.”

Wow. I never thought of my underwear purchases that way but in fact it is dead on. I haven’t bought any new underwear in at least a year. I asked Bill, one of my colleagues at work if he had purchased any underwear lately.

“I haven’t bought any underwear in at least a year and a half,” he told me. That would also seem to mirror the current recession.

I decided to ask TW the same question. He sits in the cube next to me. He told me he couldn’t remember when he last purchased underwear.

“My mother buys me underwear every Christmas,” he informed me.

There’s one in every crowd.