I went up the escalator to the third floor.  It wasn’t on the store directory, but I knew a great big department store like this had to have it.  My son’s school Halloween party was Friday afternoon, and he specifically requested this item.  I wandered through the mens’ wear department looking for this little piece of clothing that didn’t seem to be anywhere.  Finally I stopped at one of the cashier counters.  The girl stared blankly at me.  “Chef wear?”  “You know—hats, aprons, smocks.  That sort of thing?”  “Ohhhh,” said the girl.  “We don’t carry that.”  I left the desk and continued to look around.  Surely this salesperson was lying!  This was the biggest department store in town.  If there was anyplace you could buy a chef’s hat retail, this has to be it.  So I went back down the escalator.  In customer service, a middle-aged woman with horn-rimmed glasses listened patiently, a slight frown on her face.  “My apologies,” she sighed.  “We don’t have time to train all of our new employees, so we just give them the basics.  I can put it on order for you and it can be shipped here from our warehouse.”  I thanked her, and explained that it was needed by this Friday.  She balked a moment, and placed a telephone call.  A few minutes went by while we both waited, and then she faced me.  “You are a lucky guy,” she said.  “We have a couple of chef’s hats in stock.  Mr. Donleavy is bringing one out for you right away.”