School Dazed

It's not necessarily so in many areas of the country these days but Labor Day was always the death knell of a seemingly endless summer when I was growing up as well as the harbinger of the First Day of School.  It was never my favorite holiday.

When I was a kid, the preparation leading up to that first day was a major ordeal.  New clothes and shoes were obtained and the wonderful opportunity to buy new supplies for classes presented itself.  I can't say why but I loved putting all this stuff together for a new school year and even now, I love to see stationery supplies all neatly laid out, ready for use.  I would hazard a guess that this ties in with my love of words and writing.

As I grew into higher grades, it would take me forever to finally decide upon what to wear for that oh, so important first day of school.  First impressions meant a lot; even back in those days I was well aware of this fact.  Where I grew up, new fall clothes for the fairer sex usually consisted of skirts, sweaters, long-sleeved blouses and tops and dresses.  Most of these were usually made from substantial material to help keep us warm through the autumn, winter and early spring months.  A lot of the school year was spent in cold climate; however, the first day of school never was and the new outfits never matched the weather.  Sheer feminine vanity allowed us to brave any weather that nature tossed our way and we dealt with it accordingly.  These were the days when there was actually a dress code which was strictly adhered to and we were expected to come to class looking presentable and ready to receive some education; not looking like a seething mass of raging hormones looking for someone, anyone, to set our hearts and bodies upon.

Our one major rebellion to this code was wearing ridiculously short dresses that barely covered the cheeks of our bottoms.  We girls spent our entire time in class trying to pull our hemlines closer to our knees to no avail.  This was before the advent of pantyhose; woman's best friend and man's nightmare.  The predecessor to this marvelous invention was a girdle fitted with garterbelt-type hooks with which to fasten standard, mid-thigh stockings.  Talk about a bunch of little Lolitas trotting about the place! I wondered for the longest time why the lower stairwell in the middle of the school was such a popular hangout for the guys.  Wouldn't the option of being able to wear pants provide a bit more decorum, not to mention an aid to keeping warm.  It was pretty damned cold standing in a foot of snow, waiting for the bus, while Jack Frost was nipping at your hose!

It wasn't until my junior year that girls were allowed to wear slacks.  Wouldn't you know it, pantyhose came into being just a year previously.  They had to be nice, dress slacks or pants that were part of a pantsuit.  Remember those?  No one wore jeans, neither girls nor boys, ever.  I suppose this sounds incredibly harsh, outdated and controlling by today's standards (?) but having a code by which to dress taught us how to dress properly to match the occasion and it didn't kill us.  I know I'm getting old when I view with some distress what young girls are wearing to school these days.  Skintight, worn on the hips jeans, barely-there, high midriff or halter tops or minisculely there sleeveless little numbers with straps the width of vermicelli are not articles of clothing conduscive to giving rapt attention to the education being offered.  Oops!  Pardon me, my age is showing.  I can just see my husband shaking his head in disbelief as he reads this.  It would never occur to him or any other male that perhaps wearing revealing clothing all the time isn't always a good idea.  This is probably yet another fundamental difference between the mindworks of men and women.

These are just a few of my memories of school days.  Yes, the first day of school was the best day.  The second best was the last day.  It was always a long haul between the two.