TITUS FLATS, ITHACA—One Cornell first-year’s visit to the Ithaca REI Co-op was confounded by her fellow shoppers’ on-brand clothing choices.
Delaney Huelster ‘29 anticipated a short trip to the store to purchase new winter boots. Unbeknownst to her, the REI, which is located at South Meadow Square Shopping Center and offers a wide variety of camping and outdoors gear, is also home to an eerily homogeneous clientele.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for a pair of—Oh, I’m sorry. …Hi, can you help me find… …do you work…? Ope, so sorry…” mumbled the stricken student, wandering down the aisles of pocket multitools and internal frame hiking backpacks in desperate search of a sales representative.
“Snow boots? Oh, the Oboz Bridgers are just what you need. I have a pair that I wore just last week up in the Adirondacks—love ‘em to death,” babbled one green-vested individual. “Waterproof, you’re looking for waterproof? Let me take your shoe size. The outsoles on these are specialized winter rubber, and they’re comfortable, too. Can’t recommend them enough. …No, I don’t work here. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve been in here for hours now. I can’t even remember where the entrance is,” whispered Huelster, now on the verge of tears. “How am I supposed to know who to ask? It’s carabiners and cargo shorts everywhere I look.”
At press time, Huelster had given up on finding an employee and shamefully retreated behind a rack of hanging sleeping bags, content to remain there for the rest of her natural life.
