About Long Pants

I’m still pissed! I wasn’t allowed to wear long pants until I was a teenager. Worse yet my sister wasn’t allowed until she was an adult. To make matters worse my younger cousin ( that’s him in the middle) got to wear long pants before I did. As I recall, the passing to long pants was a sacred ritual. My father took the ritual seriously - “no long pants until you make your confirmation”. Ah yes, confirmation, when you became a soldier of God. Any self respecting soldier was entitled to long pants. Once you got the long pants many windows of opportunity were available. You could wear short socks. You could stand on the corner and look cool. Although a soldier of God you could sneak a look at a Popeye pornographic comic book ( Olive wore a dress). The real adventurers could sneak a “smoke”. You could start thinking about girls ( only the ones with dresses). Most of all , long pants almost put you on an equal footing with your father. My how times have changed. Children of all ages wear long pants regardless of sex. So what’s the big deal when you become a teenager these days ? A car of course , a girl with long pants, and superiority over your father.