> > No, not at all, it's complete superstitious nonsense. Elderly > relatives will claim it causes huge blisters and worse, but there is > no real cause & effect. :-) > > Ok, here is a question - this has been in letters sent to Ann Landers > & Dear Abby in the past. A woman starts a new job (usually as a > secretary) and the boss (male of course) either learns or assumes > that she sews. He asks her to mend his trousers, a crotch seam, > while he is wearing them. It's potentially a type of sexual > harassment, and Ann or Abby have suggested that the lady tell him to > bring the trousers in the next day and she will be happy to fix them. > > The story is historic in that I don't think sewing is such a > universal skill any more that any woman can be assumed to know it. > Plus we have a much greater awareness of sexual harassment. > > Funny thing is, I have repaired a boss' trousers. In my last job, > the boss is a horse enthusiast and wondered if I could patch her > riding breeches. > > And I have also advised plenty of people that dry cleaners often have > a tailor/seamstress on staff who can replace a broken zipper, etc. > I've often been asked if something can be repaired, a few more times > than being asked to actually do the repair myself. > > It never hurts to keep stash of safety pins in the desk drawer! :-) > > -Carol
On a similar note, co-workers not knowing you have sewing skills can be a fun advantage. A supervisor at my last hotel job was in the habit of teasing and pranking me mercilessly, and I would continually warn him that 'one of these days' I would get him back. I very patiently waited until one day when he came in to drop off his suit for the hotel cleaners. The instant he was gone I grabbed it out of the bin, sat down with a hotel sewing kit and in very short order had one pant leg hemmed up an inch or two shorter than the other. Back into the bin it went. A couple of days later he came in with his newly cleaned and pressed suit, none the wiser. I was not there that day (sadly) but he apparently walked around for most of the morning trying to pull one pant leg down. (step tug tug grumble, step step grumble tug, step tug, give leg a shake, repeat.) The front office had a great laugh, and John was very careful not to get too carried away with his jokes ever after... Sheridan _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
