Always out of step...

Many years ago, when I first lived on my own, I started doing dishes by hand. My mother was horrified when she came to visit, seeing the dish drainer on the counter, with the dishwashing machine used for storing those large kitchen items that don't seem to fit comfortably into cupboards.

Fast forward several years, and I again horrified my mother by buying an MPV, what SUVs were called way back when there was only a Blazer and a Bronco, and the only Hummers were Humvees. (Well, aside from the hummers offered by the service workers patrolling certain districts where nice girls don't go.). It wasn't so much that I bought "truck", but that I a) drove it all the time, and b) no longer drove my little two-seater sports car.

She would also be horrified that I now go barefoot and braless and totally schleppy all the time while at home (sorry, but when you have fibromyalgia, clothes hurt!), and am not terribly less schleppy when I leave the house (though I do wear, uhm, upper torso restraints).

So, needless to say, she would be horrified by the most exciting piece of clothing I've gotten in well over a decade: my new hard hat! With accessory headlights!!

"Didn't I teach you better?" she groaned when I did dishes by hand and when I started driving a truck. Though she has been gone 19 years now, I can still hear her, and see her roll her eyes and shake her head.

The funny thing is, she did teach me. Quite well. Though I no longer maintain the outward trappings of "a lady" as she strove to do daily, she could also get down to the nitty gritty. As can I. Hence my excitement over my new fashion statement.




What the well-dressed matron (and, uhm, iguana) is wearing this season is the CERT hard hat, with headlamps for SAR, safety vest, safety glasses (these slip on over my prescriptions specs), leather work gloves (in my size!), and a nifty lightweight 4-in-1 tool that will turn off gas, lift the concrete cover off the water main and turn that off, and generally help lift and poke through stuff.* Okay, so what I really want for Chanukkah is a pinch bar, but until then, a broom handle and my 4-in-1 will do

What? You haven't looked into getting CERT trained, or SAR trained, or starting a COPE team in your neighborhood? What are you waiting for?! In case you've forgotten, you'll find links to Emergency Preparedness articles and resources at my site.

Go ahead. Click that link. Make your mama proud that she did raise you right.


*Not pictured above are my disposable barrier gloves and masks and a bunch of other cool stuff. Did I mention that my mother was also horrified that hardware and building supply stores are my stores?