Duct Tape: It’s Not Just For Paranoid Millennialists Any More!!

Darling ones, read about our clever Carol who avoided a Blouse Mishap by thinking fast and remembering that necessity is the mother of taping our clothing shut.

She writes,

This is just a little shout out to the power of duct tape. I preached away from my congregation last week and consequently forgot my robe in my closet at home. I was in a suit, so it was no big deal to go robeless, but I was afraid of blouse pooching. The buttons on the blouse I had on have also before come loose at the bottom, so I knew I needed more security before I went into the pulpit. I looked a the administrator’s desk for a safety pin, and finding none I remembered a very funny story from a friend in seminary. Long before she was a pre-minister, she was a folkie and performed a lot of weddings on day passes for other folkies. She once helped hem a bridal gown moments before a wedding ceremony with duct tape, and I thought – if it is good enough for a bride… Anyway, I used it on my blouse and it worked great for an emergency. The only con was that I smelled like my dad’s workshop. Not unpleasant, but not a normal minister smell. Safety pins are going into my briefcase this week.

Kudos to Carol for coining the phrase, “blouse-pooching,” and for being so appropriately dressed for her preaching engagement that she didn’t have to go into paroxysms of insecurity when she realized that she had forgotten her vestments. That’s the point of it all, lambchops: to be so prepared to face your day — to have put enough thought and effort into your own appearance — that you can henceforth forget about yourself and focus on doing God’s work. Imagine how flummoxed Carol might have been in the pulpit if she had just thrown on any old thing and counted on her robe to provide all the necessary gravitas.

Thanks for a great story, newly-minted Rev. Carol! And imagine how comforting that “Dad’s workshop” smell might have been for some of the more fix-it types in the congregation as they paused to shake your hand and wish you a good morning!!