Slave to Hose

My world was recently shaken when my mom casually told me that she's decided no one wears panty hose anymore and she's thinking she should stop too. You see, I am one of those who still wears panty hose even though I am well aware that it has long been out of fashion. So why do I cling to the stuff? Guilt. The route between guilt and my need to wear hose is convoluted and messy, but to put it simply (and to save you some time), my mother taught me that I'm not truly dressed for Church unless I'm wearing panty hose. And then there was the orientation meeting in the MTC where they basically made me feel like I would be a heretic if I didn't wear panty hose every day of my mission. It made an impression on me. I wore hose every day, except for P-days, even when I came home with dirt caked between my toes. I have to say though that for the most part, hose was a good deterrent for mosquitoes. So I continue to squeeze into hose (in my mind, knee highs are perfectly acceptable too) every Sunday morning.

Now this is not to say that I wear hose outside of Church. I only wear hose to work when it's cold outside and I figure they're warmer than nothing at all. But as soon as it warms up, I'm happy to do without the stuff.

Neither do I look at bare legs in Church and immediately judge the gal. I recognize that I have a sickness and I don't try to impose it on anyone else. Sometimes I even feel a bit of admiration, toying with the idea of not wearing hose to Church myself and wondering if the time has come for me to give up my guilt.

So after my mom's comment, did I shout Hallelujah! and thank her for releasing me from my self-imposed dress code? Nope. Instead I desperately clung to my own insanity and tried to convince her that she'd feel better about wearing hose if she just bought the more expensive kind. Yup, I try to be helpful that way. Just for the record Mom, I might not be ready to abandon hose, but don’t let me keep you from freedom. If you’re ready to take that step, I say go for it.