Wearing the Wrong Pants

Despite my offers to handle things, Mom insisted on coming home for an afternoon while Dad was in the hospital to take care of the laundry. (I seem to have a vague recollection of pink t-shirts and underwear when I was in college that may explain her feelings about my laundry skills. The specifics seem to be fading from memory now....) Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my Mom is also susceptible to laundry mistakes.

It had been another long week filled with teaching, rehearsals, and daily trips to the hospital. When Friday finally rolled around, I was a bit perturbed that I had to conduct a student conference on a day I was scheduled to be off work. Heaven forbid that faculty appear on campus wearing anything less than business casual! On this particular Friday, I was impressed that I had managed to pull clothes from the closet that actually matched and got them on my body successfully. I barely remember getting dressed at all.

As the day progressed, I began to notice that I was having issues with my slacks. My heel was getting caught in the cuff. My belt was singed tightly against my waist, but the pants did not feel normal. I began to think that all of the busyness of the last few weeks had equated to some weight loss. When visiting the men's room, I had to check that the clasp was still in tact. My pants were entirely too loose.

As I was driving home, I decided it was time to check the tags and figure out what was going on. Upon inspection, I realized that I had been wearing my dad's pants all day long. Dad's waistband is four inches larger than mine! How in the world had this happened? Then it dawned on me...Mom had dealt with the laundry last weekend while barely able to keep her eyes open. She hung Dad's pants in my closet! After shaking my head at her mistake, I was very thankful that the slacks had stayed around my waist all day. A single tug caused by a missed step could have resulted in a breezy and embarrassing situation with my -- or Dad's -- pants gathered around my ankles.

It's safe to assume that I will be paying closer attention to the tags in all of my clothes for at least the next few weeks. And I'll smile to know that my potential wardrobe malfunction has not had the chance for a repeat performance.