Day: August 16, 2021

Barely worn

by dougpete, posted in Education, Just Rambling

I’ve been on a bit of a desire lately to get an outside clock just to know what time it is when we’re in the pool. It would have to be big enough for me to read without my glasses so just not any clock would do. My daughter agreed but, like most things, she needed to have first approval. I actually don’t mind since she does have good, albeit a bit strange at times, taste.

She sent me a link to a used one on Facebook Marketplace. Other than the fact that it was quite expensive, it was on sale from someone’s house a long way from here. Sure, there must be something a bit closer. Of course, there was nothing but I scrolled around a bit, just in case.

What I did see was interesting. We have a local Catholic secondary school and there were all kinds of uniforms on sale. Khakis, dress pants, skorts, sweatshirts, etc. It was one of them that had “barely worn” in the descriptor.

It was a sad smile that crossed my face. Of course, when you’re not hopping on a bus to head to school but staring at a screen all day long, the dress code is different. I know that I would probably opt for the dress top to appear to be in uniform but sleep pants would be my choice for prolonged sitting. I wonder if the school’s plaid comes in sleep pants?

I’m sure that graduating students regularly kick start their university/college career by selling used clothing but this was different.

Back to School was always a big deal for me growing up. Towards the last of August, my mom would take us to Goderich to Woolworth’s for new clothes for school. We always had “school clothes” and “play clothes”. I didn’t attend a Catholic school but it was important that we were clean and tidy (at least before we left the house). Play clothes were supposed to be the ones with the grass stains, rips, tears, and the beating I applied to them. Immediately after school, I was expected to go upstairs and change. There would be a time when school clothes started to look rough and they rotated into play clothes.

It was a mindset that continued into my working life. I’d always buy a couple of sets of new outfits in August and retire some from the previous years. I didn’t outgrow pants like I did as a kid where they became “flood pants” but certainly chalk dust and leaking pens/markers do a real number on clothes over a period of time.

The smile was about the memories – the sad part was thinking that these brand new pieces of clothing were being sold privately at a fraction of the original cost. Not because of a change of school or grass stains but because of this damn virus.

OTR Links 08/16/2021

by dougpete, posted in Links

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.