the shirttail

For someone who wears glasses most of her life, the shirttail must be the trusty handyman for all occasions. In the absence of the hanky (or the Kleenex for those too squeamish about the idea of keeping a piece of cloth in his/her pocket for later use, which takes weeks for some...), or the flannel that goes with the eyeglasses (which come in pink, blue, green, yellow, etc.)-- the shirttail saves the day every time you get your fingerprints on your lenses; or when unwarranted raindrops give the unwitting traveler that is you, the sullied vision you have long wanted to get rid of. It only takes tugging your shirttail and everything is comme il faut--as it should be.

Those who are lucky not to wear glasses, perhaps you still get the picture. More than a flanky (flannel and hanky) substitute, this shirttail is more than just your ordinary shirttail. You two must have really gone a long way. It was there during your edgy moments--when you couldn't help tugging it due to anxiety over a very important school presentation (probably that was until high school, college was a whole lot different--the feeling was more of wanting to hide under your shirttail--tugging it just wasn't enough--in the middle of your thesis defense)

The often disregarded shirttail stood as a tacit witness to the mortifying events of your life. Those times when you didn't feel capable of raising your head because of humiliation, shame or simple frustration. During these low points, your shirttail was there, unassumingly staring back, needless to utter a word. Nonetheless, it was comforting to have this one thing that endured the brief moments of disgrace with you and never made you feel that any damage was done permanently.

It's great knowing that you have your shirttail just about any time you need it.

In a world where most people would die to prove they are indispensable (such irony of life) and at a time when people find so many things indispensable, we seldom appreciate things we think we can readily dispense with but are in fact the more delightful morsels of the scrumptious pie of life. The shirttail is just one of the many things we too often take for granted and at this point, we only know too well that we should not take anything for granted. These moments with your shirttails may altogether be insignificant. Yet, here we are, speaking of the grandeur of the shirttail, now tell me, for quite some time, you've never felt this good.