I've spent what feels like an inordinate amount of time not trying on pants lately--I keep going into stores, sticking my hand into pockets, and moving on to the next style.

For some reason--payoffs from the pickpocket and purse-snatching lobbies, perhaps--almost every manufacturer seems to be making the front pockets on women's trousers 1/3 to 1/2 the size they were a year ago. This is not big enough. My wallet should not stick out of my pants pocket.

I've looked at jeans and several other styles, from a variety of manufacturers, in a variety of stores. Also a catalog: after one disappointment, I'm not prepared to order pants from a catalog without speaking to a customer rep and asking how deep and wide the front pockets are. (Yes, that includes styles you've been satisfied with in the past, because it includes a style I've been satisfied with in the past and got burned by.)

I feel rather like Yossarian--that they're doing this to other people doesn't make me feel any less persecuted.

[That, plus a disappointing goat curry lunch purchased because I wanted something comforting after the latest clothing shopping attempt, is what prompted me to buy extra userpic space.]