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Sunday, July 02, 2000
I've been gathering my thoughts and yours, so today we share:
Is it the common practice not to open the box because it will destroy the process, or would it be a good idea for the owner to ask to see it just before it is sealed? I am not aware of the procedure, but this woman felt victimized. I've had that happen with dry cleaning when I don't plan to wear something for several months and I don't look at it or take it out of the bag. More than once I have discovered a lost button, a tear or a stain when it's time to wear it, and it's too late to complain.
Can somebody please explain why a sleeveless sweater with chunky turtleneck is considered the "summer sweater" for 2000? In 90-degree temperatures, who wants a chunky fold of material, even if it's cotton, around the neck while arms are bare? Fashion is mystifying. A reader wants to know why manufacturers use chicken wire (or facsimile) to stitch in labels at the necks of clothing. Are they sadists? Fashion is mystifying. Who would like to be the one to count all the Capri pants that will be left over in store inventories after summer? A habit that's catching on could create neighbor rage if we aren't careful. While I value a grass-edger or trimmer as much as the next fellow, I don't think they are designed to "mow" entire yards. The noise is irritating, like a Cuisinart chopping silverware, and if the yard is large, it can take hours to cut the grass. The key words here are lawn "edger" and lawn "mower." Know the difference. Someone sent me some excellent articles dealing with what is described as "dumbing down of the workplace" and "dress to regress," written by people far more expressive than I in addressing so much casual business attire. Now the elite Duquesne Club has joined in, a surprise because I recall the club being the last to accept women on the premises wearing pantsuits, long after they were accepted fashion elsewhere in the '70s. I have another favorite TV commercial. It's the one for Pampers showing all kinds of animals with their young. I never fail to smile as mom helps her baby elephant over a log or mama duck gathers her ducklings to lead them across the road. Rod Stewart sings "Forever Young" in the background. Love it. My dentist noticed and then I noticed. Regis Philbin's teeth are whiter than any teeth have a right (or reason) to be. Every summer I appreciate more and more what neighborhoods and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy bring to the eye with their plantings. But I was moved the day I watched students at Reizenstein helping with the planting that has made the East Liberty school grounds a vision of pride. What goes on just below the grounds, across from the East Liberty Station mall, is in stark contrast, as people waiting for buses pile up litter and send the students a different message: Disregard the environment. The man hired to maintain Village of Shadyside townhouses picks up several times any given day but can't keep up with the careless litterbugs, many of them adults. There's a new baby in my neighborhood. Oh, such joy. His name is Alex Vega Shirey, and my next-door neighbors, Lisa and Dave, have been waiting a long time for this precious child. It's amazing when you see a truly wanted child arrive to carry on and give all of us hope for the future. He's such a special gift. Another reader thinks painting our bridges different colors or trimming them with colored lights would be a tourist draw, and maybe the fountain at the Point could spout water colors, not just plain H2O. Interesting. And a bride from 1955 wants to warn other brides that she was horribly deceived by trusting someone to clean and preserve her wedding gown, so beware. She never opened the box after it was returned to her, and for years she stored it under her bed. Recently, with no children of her own, she decided to donate the gown to charity. She opened the seal to find a gown crumpled, soiled and limp with oil-like stains. It broke her heart. The trademark on the outside of the box said "Preserved for Posterity Heirloom Process."