Daily Archives: June 25, 2024

I like to stay abreast of the news.  To get current info, I’ve purchased online subscriptions to newspapers like The Washington Post.

The Post is currently in a state of upheaval, reeling from revelations about editors and others who run the paper.  But it’s still churning out plenty of news stories.  I like to peruse the list of stories every day, choosing the ones I want to read and deleting the rest.

One of the things I don’t look for in the Post is advice on how to do household chores. I’ve never been much of a fanatic about housekeeping.  Probably a predictable reaction to my mother’s
obsession with it.  I do keep things clean, and I can usually track down what I need.  My sister, on the other hand, happily followed my mother’s path.  When she listed her house for sale, the listing described her place as “impeccably maintained.”  I couldn’t help joking that my house was, by contrast, “peccably maintained.”  (I don’t think that’s a real word.)

Noting the chaos going on behind the scenes at the Post, I was recently astounded to come across advice on “how to iron better and faster.”  A long column set out “ironing tips and tricks.”

My reaction?  I don’t iron!  I haven’t ironed anything in years.  Does anyone still iron?

After moving to San Francisco 19 years ago, leaving behind all sorts of things I used in my former home, I purchased a new steam iron at Macy’s.  My apartment has a built-in ironing board, and I guess I expected to use this iron someday. But I never have.  It languishes in its box, resting on a shelf, eagerly waiting to confront some wrinkled clothes.  The funny thing is that I never wear clothes that need ironing.

I can’t help remembering how my mother was addicted to an old-fashioned heavy non-steam iron she must have acquired in the 1950s.  When I finally made a little money in my newly-launched legal career, I gave her the gift of a brand-new steam iron purchased at the old Sears department store on State Street in downtown Chicago.  Incredibly, she forced me to return it!  To my amazement, she clearly preferred her long-established habit of wielding that heavy iron and watching all manner of
clothes turn wrinkle-free under her watch. 

I confess that in my long-ago past, I did iron a few items of clothing.  I specifically recall ironing
the white cotton blouses we all wore back then. But I happily left cotton blouses behind years ago.  When I worked as a lawyer, I sometimes wore silk blouses that needed special care, but I sent
those to a cleaners rather than tackle them myself.

Today my wardrobe is filled with very little besides t-shirts and jeans and black pants that don’t need ironing.  I can’t imagine standing in front of an ironing board handling a dangerously hot appliance that does nothing more than remove wrinkles. I view that as a tremendous waste of my time.

If you choose to wear clothes that need ironing, I certainly respect your choice.  You must prefer to wear
clothes very different from mine.  Maybe you’d like to read the advice by Post columnist Helen Carefoot.  In her column, she covers topics like “how to use the ironing board correctly.”  Good luck to you in that pursuit! 

Please forgive me if I don’t join you.  I choose to avoid that particular pursuit.  I’m quite fulfilled wearing my t-shirts and non-ironed pants while I take a hike outdoors, watch the latest must-see on TV, or sit in front of my desktop computer, happily typing away.