Out With the Old

This may be more than you want to know.

Sometimes I buy underwear but save them for special days. I’m not talking about the lacy, uncomfortable type of undies. (If you’re looking for that kind of post, this is not it.) I’m talking about stretchy, cotton, everyday underwear. The kind you buy in bulk at Costco. The kind with pink floral print.

I buy them because my other undies are out of commission. But instead of throwing out the old, I continue wearing them and keep the new neatly folded in my drawer. Because new underwear should be worn on days you go out to dinner or you give a presentation or you wear high heels. They’re special underwear for special occasions. Not for putzing around. Which means that underwear falling apart inevitably gets worn on Saturdays and holidays and casual weekdays.

My mom told me a long time ago not to wear underwear with holes in it because you never know when you’ll get in a car accident and end up in the emergency room with a cute doctor looking at your poor taste in undergarments. Good advice. I think about it every time I open my underwear drawer.

But this is still a problem. A problem that is not limited to underwear.

I don’t wear my favorite shirts. They hang in my closet waiting for important days and events. Which means that I end up wearing old clothes I don’t like as much over and over.

And it happens with cash birthday presents. I shop, but I hardly ever buy in search of something I may like better. Which means I’ve gone the last two birthdays without actually buying myself anything.

It even happens with candy. I eat the yellow and orange Starbursts first because I don’t like them as much. Then when I finally get to the pink ones, my husband inevitably walks in the room.

So I end up spending my days hoarding and waiting and grungy just because I’m saving everything for something better. Someday I’m going to get to the end of my days and realize I missed the highlights. Isn’t that a little sad? A little depressing? A little unreasonable?

I think it’s time for a change.

I think it’s time to throw out my old underwear.