The Top Shelf - Exploring the Phenomenon of the Bra Pocket

I've worked in the food industry, the retail industry, and the media industry. I've somehow managed to work in the oil industry and make less than $25,000 a year. But the most interesting characters - both those I've worked with and those I've served - have been spotted in my time spent in the worlds of retail and food.

I'm at work at REI in Anchorage, Alaska. A man who looks slightly less likely to have showered in the past three days than the other customers approaches me. I quickly scan for a rack to hide behind, but it seems I am once again too tall. He asks me if I can spare some money, because he has just been released from jail, has no money, and is really hungry. JUST released from jail. The man got out, and the first thing he did was go to REI? Smart, I guess, considering the average price of an item is around $60. What was not smart was asking the girl in the black apron, which has grown ragged from months of being abused with security tags, who makes seven dollars an hour.

I now trade my black apron for a white polo and a pair of khakis, which never fail to soak the Oregon rain clear up to my knees, as they are chronically too big. I am too cheap to buy a new pair of khakis, because, well, I'm not Steve Irwin and I wouldn't be caught dead in them outside of work. An older woman asks me for some hot water for her tea, because the hot water in our Cambro is "not hot enough." I retrieve the water. Still not hot enough. This time I make sure the water is boiling. She shakes her head. "Still not hot enough." I don't think it gets any hotter than boiling with conventional cooking tools. I give up and assume the woman has lost all feeling in the upper half of her body.

I traded my white polo for a selection of red, white, and blue polos. This time I can wear jeans - jeans and sandals! But I only get three, I have to plan my laundry schedule carefully.

I am working as a salesperson. "That will be twenty-two dollars total, ma'am." The flighty woman reaches deep into her bussom and spends two minutes digging for what I assume to be her method of payment. Who knows - she could have been searching for snacks. "Sorry, I keep it in the Top Shelf" she explains.

The Top Shelf. I did not realize that women are still using this archaic technology. Nowadays women cannot only wear pants with pockets, we have the worlds biggest selection of purses, pocketbooks, handbags, and backpacks at our fingertips. I even prefer a fanny pack to this Top Shelf buisiness.

How long have women been keeping money in their bras? And why? I was under the impression, until last week, that it was something done only in dark, smoky bars by women whose breasts are already 75% out of their shirts, on MTV's Spring Break, and on soap operas from the 1980's. Let's be clear: Telenovelas from the 1980's.

I just had a few questions run through my mind as the woman continued searching for the goods in front of me. What if I was a man? What if men were around? Would she still have gone right in, or would she have excused herself to the bathroom to get things in order in the privacy of a stall? Would she at least have turned around? She did not seem at all embarrassed by her display, and the fact she had a name for her secret pocket revealed that she had probably done this many times before.

Let me know what you think. Is it ok at this point in modernity for a woman to keep money in her chest? It is gross, or merely a little uncomfortable? Are there situations where this is acceptable? Do you - or have you ever - used the Top Shelf?