Forget the cake, let them wear gowns

On "Black Friday," I was walking with a friend in Georgetown who suggested we go into Georgetown Park, an upscale mall, to see the Christmas decorations, which were minimal in this recession year. What surprised us were the number of stores that were showcasing elegant evening gowns in their windows - until we realized the gowns were in windows of empty stores, in lieu of covering the windows with blank paper. We estimated that about half the stores were displaying gowns. One wonders how many people are metaphorically displaying gowns in this recession as well.