Learning a New Skill

When I iron a shirt (quit laughing), I start with the yoke and collar. Then I press out the sleeves. Once that is done I begin working around the body starting with the right side of the front. That is the step by step process, but it doesn’t explain the temperature of the iron, use of stream or dry, the fact that the tip of the iron is hotter than the heel, whether the board is faced to the left or right, how much pressure to use, how to handled the buttons, the trick of keeping the cord out of the way and many more little tips that for years I took for granted.

When I was a kid ironing happened on Saturday. First the clothes had to be sprinkled with water. Yes, the days before stream and spray irons but after the day of laying the cast iron in the fireplace - hell I ain't that old.

When I joined the Army I was amused by the number of young women who didn't know how to iron their uniforms. I even had a Drill Sergeant comment that once we left basic training most of us would end up ironing only the front part of our shirts leaving the rest of the shirt to hide under the dress uniform jacket. I never fell into that league.

This morning Dad asked me to show him how to iron a shirt he planned to wear in Hawaii. While demonstrating this skill I asked him if he ever ironed. I suspected not, Mom pressed his shirts.

At 84, my father learned how to iron a shirt. Wonder what I will learn when I’m eighty-four.