Sunday, June 23, 2013

This Really Isn't My Leg...But It Is A Re-Post...


This tale from my younger days is true and was part of an e-mail sent to another blogger. I figured you might like a laugh. What was your life like back in the 1990's?

Image From Wikipedia. It is in the public domain worldwide and has been cropped. It is used here for illustrative purposes only.

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In the mid-nineties, I found myself part of a wave of thirty-somethings seeking work. On the day of an Employment Fair at my university, I arrived, CV in hand, dressed in a beautiful red skirt and matching jacket. Having taken pains to find exactly the right creamy silk blouse for the ensemble, I looked the picture of confidence.

Concluding an interview, I shook hands with the hiring manager to whom I had been speaking, leaving the room excited to be starting a job in the next two weeks.

The exits, likewise brimming with flurries of skirts and suits, all rushing to various destinations, some no doubt unforeseen, only added to my growing anticipation.

It was not until I reached the row of cars containing mine that an odd sensation gradually replaced the heady feelings I'd carried from the interview.

A small, almost imperceptible snap led to a slow downward migration until the crotch of my sheer tights rested between my knees, impeding further efforts to get to my car. 

In a split-second decision, I crouched between two Jeeps. However, removing the offending tights, and trying to jettison my favourite flats without burning my feet on hot asphalt, wasn't as easy to accomplish as I'd imagined.

No sooner was I free of shoes and busily yanking off the last shred of hosiery when I heard in booming bass: "What do you think you're doing there, Miss?"

The snapped elastic band of tights in hand, my eyes migrated to the burliest male specimen of a police officer I'd ever encountered. Tall, and exceedingly muscular, he had no discernible neck, and his light blue eyes reflected an air of impenetrable reserve and calm.

Cramming my left foot into its shoe, I decided that a quick departure was in order and pasted a smile on my face to hide rising panic.

"I had a small problem but it's over now," I said. Before he could respond, I added, "Would you be a dear and dispose of these? They've seen better days and I hate to leave a mess. Thanks ever so much."

With that, I hurled the defective hosiery in his direction, and took off toward my car, glancing backward only once to see whether he was in pursuit.

The increasing peels of laughter that met my ears only faded as the driver's door opened and I started the engine...

Until Next Time...

10 comments:

Brian Miller said...

hhaha these moments keep life interesting eh? and you know he told all the guys at the station house...lol...

e said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
e said...

Funnily enough, when I recounted this at a party, one of the men there knew this guy and he remembered being told about me. I almost died of embarrassment but fortunately, both had a sense of humour.

the fly in the web said...

You absolute star! I'd have died from shame....

1990s...giving up active work in the courts to give legal advice as my husband was so ill that we moved to France in the 80s to give him a better climate...discovering that I had to become a full time carer so not capable of keeping up to date enough to be really professional....feeling distinctly fed up....finding I could help other immigrants and thus falling foul of the expat cliques who were ripping them off...great French friends...discovering it was no use being to proud to seek help...learning how a new culture worked...or didn't.
Was it good for me...I don't know. But I learned a lot.

Steve Reed said...

Ha! I bet the cop is still telling that story, just like you are!

I had to laugh at the photo being "used here for illustrative purposes only." As opposed to...what? ;)

e said...

monetary or commercial...of course, you would point that out...LOL.

Secret Agent Woman said...

Quick thinking!

Mid-nineties I was busy having babies. But I have to say, I'm glad the days of panty hose are behind us.

nick said...

I'd love to have seen the police officer's expression as he plucked the pair of tights from the ground and wondered what on earth to do with them as various onlookers watched his every move.

Jenny Woolf said...

Haha! I wonder if he kept them as a souvenir :D

Alan Burnett said...

Lovely memory - made me smile out loud (so to speak)