Saturday, April 22, 2017

The Clothes Down Under

It was a hot summer day.
The girl whose family owned the only swimming pool in the town was hosting an impromptu pool party with her friends.
One girl came without a swimsuit.
“No problem,” the hostess said, “I have a whole drawer full. Just find one you like!”
She then waved, vaguely, before turning back to her other guests.
The guest disappeared, returning a short time later dressed in a modest blue two-piece.
Tossing out greetings to the young men and women clustered around the pool, she sauntered around to where her hostess was sitting.
And struck a pose.
“What do you think?”
Her hostess looked up, then shrieked and jumped to her feet. “Where did you get that?!” she said.
The guest blinked and glanced around nervously.
All eyes were on her.
“F-from your drawer, like you said.”
“The top drawer?”
“Y-yes.”
“That's my underwear drawer!”
“Eeeeeeee!” the guest sprinted back into the house.
She had been covered.
In what could easily be mistaken for a swimsuit.
But just being told she was wearing underwear made her scramble madly for shelter.
I thought this story was hilarious.
Then, I saw it happen to my Mom.
Well . . . something similar, anyways . . .

Our family was getting ready for church.
My current boyfriend, coming to church with my family for the first time and dressed uncomfortably in a shirt and tie, was seated in the great room, waiting for the rest of us.
I was the next to be ready, so I sat beside him and started talking.
Something I did a lot.
A lot.
But I digress . . .
My mother scurried out of her bedroom and started puttering around in the kitchen, in plain sight of the two of us. She put a roast in the oven for dinner and then started tidying up from breakfast.
I kept talking.
But for some reason, my boyfirend woudn't look at me, but stared, instead, out the window.
I kept talking.
He kept staring fixedly (good word) at something outside.
Suddenly, my mother, still in the kitchen, said, “Oh, my! Look at me!”
I did.
As she was making a fast exit towards her bedroom.
At first I saw nothing wrong.
She was dressed in her usual fashion. Undershirt, bra, full slip.
Skirt. Stockings.
Oh. Wait. Something was missing.
Her blouse.
Suddenly my boyfriend's fixed gaze made sense.
He had noticed as soon as Mom had entered the room.
Huh. Funny that I didn't see it.
Okay, so observant, I'm not.
Mom went through the rest of the day rather pink-faced.
Which was funny.
She had been completely covered.
Modestly, even.
In at least three layers of cloth.
But because the material had been termed 'underwear', she was embarrassed.
As I would have been.
As anyone . . . you get the point.
Aren't we weird?

10 comments:

  1. I would have had the same reaction ... yes, we are weird!! Love the label!

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  2. It's rather lovely, really. Folks today don't seem to mind running around half naked in public. Some modesty would be a lesson well learned.

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  3. We are indeed weird, and I am so grateful I have found a tribe of weirdos to belong to.

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  4. At least all parties were---COVERED. I did the photography at a wedding a few years back. It was an outdoor event at a ski resort and everyone was having a good time. I got a good series of stop-action shots of the wedding party doing a 'leap-of-faith' off a wide step on the approach to the lifts. The wind blew some of the dresses up and low and behold, the maid of honor was COMMANDO. I don't know how many actually SAW that but my camera did and recorded it for posterity. Now the appropriate thing is to remove said (offensive?) photo from the files but you still canNOT unsee what you've just seen. Every time I see that girl I'll see her jumping off that step, her dress billowing up and---.

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    1. LOL! You'd think she would have seen that coming ...

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  5. I enjoyed reading this and agree with Delores comments "Folks today don't seem to mind running around half naked in public. Some modesty would be a lesson well learned."

    All the best Jan

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  6. Oh my! Oh my! And now, lol, you've told the world!

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  7. Undershirt, bra, full slip. Undershirt??Is that what we call a singlet and the English call a vest? (undervest?) Seems like an awful lot of layers to me. We call a slip a petticoat, and I haven't owned one since I grew out of the only one I had left at age ten. I remember my mother wearing them, but only in the winter when an extra layer was welcome.
    I think it's odd to be embarrassed by being seen in underwear, but there's no explaining why. It's just one of those things that will always be a mystery. Unless you're Madonna or some other rock and roll exhibitionist.

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  8. We are weird! I would have died. My husband doesn't even see me in my underwear!

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