While making my bed this morning, my hand touched the tags on my pillows – which are old. I suddenly realized that I had never cut them off.
Why not? Then I began looking around at other items in my house and noticed various tags all over the house. Had I been that unobservant? Was it my age again causing this? Had my mother warned me years ago not to get tags cut off from many articles? No, I don’t think so, because I remember seeing them still attached to many articles at her home as well.
Thinking about this monumental subject, I decided to ask my friends and family members if they had left tags on everything as well.
Most told me they had never thought about it. I must confess, this senior lady had never pondered this major issue either, until today. Look around your home right now ... Confess, are these items still attached to your towels, placemats, sheets, pillows, cushions, mats? Why haven’t you removed them? Have you stopped to read what these annoying little things say? I just did. One of my couch cushions’ labels says, “Life at Home”. Really? That’s where I live my life all right – at home. That one is gone!
A small cushion cover that I purchased in Bruges, Belgium, many years ago, has a sticker on the back reminding me that it came from a store named “Au PONT DE BRUGES,” which means the “Bridge of Bruges,” called Brugge, in Dutch. Without this label, I never would have remembered that. Is it important? No. That is one mighty strong sticker since I have had this cover for more than 20 years!
Labels in the back of my clothes drive me insane! Not only are they uncomfortable for this older lady, but they often need to be tucked in the back of the garment. I’m not talking about laundry instructions, but brand names. Frequently someone else will kindly do that for me – even my husband. I really appreciate that some brands now print the name and size inside the clothing items. No labels to annoy me!
Laundry instruction labels are usually attached inside clothing, but down much lower where I’m not aware of them. In fact, I have to search for them to ensure that I wash the garment properly. I don’t mind that at all.
I observed that Alex’s T-shirts also sport bothersome brand tags at the back of them, but his dress shirts don’t. Yet my expensive dresses and blouses do have them. Another case of male comfort versus not caring about females? Where does this stop?
So, this is my latest rant about one of the numerous mighty issues of the day that bother me frequently. I know, I just go on and on! Is that because I’m becoming crotchety in my advanced age? What do you think?
Erna de Burger-Fex is a writer and retired teacher who writes about aging and the funny side of getting older. Got a question for Erna? Email [email protected].
