Creases in jeans bothers the Old Coot (an article published on 02/08/2023)

 The Old Coot pans creases in jeans.

By Merlin Lessler

 I come from the “crease” generation. It’s a component of the “steam iron” era. Our pants had creases down the front. In my case, because my mother pressed them in with her steam iron.  Some guys did their own; when I tried it I ended up with a double crease or a crease where it didn’t belong. Mothers ironed everything back then, even sheets, pillow cases, handkerchiefs and underwear.

 We wore khaki pants to school. On cold winter days, we wore corduroy or wool pants. All, had a crease down the center of the leg.  You couldn’t wear jeans to school back then. That’s what you wore when you got home and changed out of your school clothes. 

 So, what the big deal? Pants still come with creases. BUT NOT JEANS! And, that’s what I have a problem with. When I see one of my kind (an old coot) wearing a pair of Levi’s with a crease, it hits me like fingernails scratching down a blackboard. Which, incidentally, no longer decorate classroom walls. That’s too bad. Kids miss out on a lot. – “Go to the board & finish the math problem” – “Go to the board and write I will not talk in class, 100 times – “Please go to the board and erase todays lessons” (That one was a privilege). “Tomorrow’s assignments are on the board; write them down in your assignment book.”

 We lived and learned in a blackboard world, sitting in wooden desks with ink wells, using ink pens that we dipped in the ink – ballpoint pens didn’t exist back then, neither did white-out, to cover up mistakes; we used an abrasive ink-easer to fix errors. If we were not careful, the eraser would tear the paper and leave a hole. I used the “cross-out” method. No holes in my paper, just a messy bunch of words crossed out. It looked a lot like documents that government officials redact before releasing to the public.

Sorry about that, I got distracted, wandered into the past. You have to expect that of an old coot. Now, back to my original thought on “creases” and those guys who grew up in my world and walk around in Levi’s with creases down the legs. They make the rest of us old guys look bad. Out of touch! The whole purpose of denim jeans, back then, and still today, is to wear something that is low maintenance, that only needs to be washed every month or so AND DOESN”T NEED IRONING! Some Levi, aficionados believe they never should be washed; it’s enough that they get a bath when we use them to dry our hands, or sit on a wet bench. My friend John presses his Levi’s with a steam iron set on high. I give him a pass on the creases because he’s Fonz (from Happy Days), to me. He snaps his fingers to start his truck, Harley and Jeep. When he next sees me, he’ll probably snap his fingers, causing my coffee spill all over my shirt. Oh well, it’s worth it! 

 Complaints? Send to mlessler7@gmail.com