Wondering

I've always wondered, and if you live in Hawaii too maybe you've wondered as well, why Bath & Bodyworks doesn't open a boutique in Ala Moana or Pearlridge or anywhere else in the state.

I mean, amongst my group of friends, it's almost a given that if you go to California-Nevada-New York-Chicago-anywhere-else-on-the-mainland, you bring back the latest yummy smelling soap product from Bath & Bodyworks. Everyone has a favorite scent. I like the Cotton Blossom. Ashley used to like the Country Apple. Dara liked the Pea Blossom. June likes the foaming hand wash. Shari likes the bath gels and body sprays. And etc., etc.

Now they have the new line of aromatherapy handwashes. Oh, don't get me started.

Don't the Bath & Bodyworks people know they'd make a killing here?

I remember when my dad first started making his frequent business trips to the mainland I asked him to stop at a Bath & Bodyworks and handed him a list that looked something like this:

2 bottles of antibacterial handwash -- Country Apple, Pearberry
2 bottles of Cotton Blossom body wash
1 bottle Cotton Blossom body spray
1 bottle of White Tea & ginger body wash

My dad handed the list to the sales clerk and she did all the shopping for him while he sat on a bench outside the store and smoked a cigarette. He didn't want to go inside, he said, because it "stank."

My cousins in Chicago are pretty bleh about Bath & Bodyworks and couldn't quite understand my feverish enthusiasm to visit the place. Although, to their credit, they pretened to be for my sake. Bath & Bodyworks are as common as hot dog stands in Chicago. Which, now that I think about it, probably accounts for their cult status here.