Crumbs From the Corner: Adventures in Woolgathering

Monday, March 17, 2008

If the T-shirt Fits...



"The well-dressed man is he whose clothes you never notice."
-William Somerset Maugham

For the day that is in it, I was thinking this morning about Irish themes, whether they be shamrocks or green sheep.
It put me in mind of a colourful Irish T-shirt that my Spouse owned for a very brief period.
Spouse and I went house hunting in Texas three years ago; I had just been on an extended visit to Ireland and had brought a gift for one of Spouse's friends who lived in Texas. As per the friend's request, I had picked up an Irish-themed T-shirt- one that had a quaint slogan and a picture of a frothing glass of beer.
The friend had asked for such with the fervent hope that single women would give a second glance to the wearer of an unusual item of clothing.
He had seen my Spouse wear a similar-themed garment many times, one that featured cheerful, frolicsome sheep playing fiddles, and a typical, quirky Irish catchphrase.
Spouse's one had long since worn away and turned into a rag for household chores so while in Ireland I had also picked up another for my Spouse to replace the old. The new one depicted the four seasons of Ireland as being wet, wetter, more wet and rather wet. Spouse was enormously pleased with that and wore it as we ambled around looking for a home in Texas.
We planned to give Spouse's friend his gift as soon as we met him.
One afternoon while shopping we stepped into an elevator. A young lady glanced once at Spouse's entertaining T-shirt, smiled, and said a brief hello. We thought nothing much of it until it happened again at the next elevator, and again out on the street until it became a matter of course during the day.
After a hasty conference we opted to keep for ourselves the milder-by-comparison 'beer' T-shirt and gave the 'Seasons' T-shirt to my Spouse's friend with the gratuitous tip that the garment functioned just as it had been intended.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

6 comments:

Beth said...

Wonderful--you always make me smile. I hope that your friend had success with his t-shirt. I liked the Somerset Maugham quote, too. I think about that quote when dressing especially for court--always to look appropriate but not to draw attention from my client or my goal.

Phyllis Hunt McGowan said...

Thanks, Beth. It means a lot that you read my stories. I'm still new to sharing my writing and it's always a pleasure to get comments like that.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

thanks for dropping in at the mouse. as the irish would say - cead mile failte!

I love your stated purpose to your blog - although your profile (outside of the interests and faves sound as if I've met my double)is a bit of an enigma wrapped in a mystery. ah the games bloggers play! but we mice love crumbs and I must say I'll be popping over for frequent nibbles!

perhaps when I have more time to catch up on some of your older posts I will be able to see through the glass clearly instead of darkly (okay, I was trying to be clever with an ingmar illusion - but I fear it didn't quite work! mouse humor - I too adore bergman)

Phyllis Hunt McGowan said...

"as the irish would say - cead mile failte!"
-and I am Irish, and we most certainly do ;) at least the friendly ones.
I love your mouse/crumb connection. That's quite clever :) I can be an enigma when I want to be- I just like a lot of things and absolutely enjoy life.
There's so much joy to be had from simple things.
I am going to have a lot of fun reading your blog.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

once I started believing in past lives (okay yeah I'm kooky - and I embrace it) I realized that I must have been irish in a previous life which would explain my attraction to ireland and irish culture and why when I did get to go to ireland on holiday I felt I was coming home.

I don't know if one become irish through marriage, but if so, I did marry a lad who is half irish! and we have mingled a great deal of bodily fluids over the years.

thanks much thanks for the add!

yes, yes 'tis a gift to be simple.

slainte!

Phyllis Hunt McGowan said...

If that's the way it goes then I was Californian in another life because that's where I've felt most at home. I loved it there and my Spouse and I miss it a lot.
Slainte/Cheers to you, too!

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