I was asked, the other day, to pick out something I really liked about me.
Where to start?
Is it my outrageous earning capacity? My love of the drunken arm-wrestling champeenships? My ability to appear to be paying attention while I’m really making a mental grocery list for later?
No. It is not.
I, my friend, have some awesome posture.
Yeah. I know, right? I’m like a model citizen over here.
I credit my mother. It’s not like she would whap us with a broom or anything, but “stand up straight!” and “suck that in!” were regular commands as a child.
As she has pointed out, we are not from slouching people.
Like the other things that my mother told me over the years (“wash your hands”, “don’t order the fish on a Monday”), the commands to stand up straight and suck in my gut have stuck but good.
I’m sorry to say, though, that I think both standing up straight and sucking in one’s gut have gone the way of changing your own oil or darning your own socks.
Both of which I’ve been known to do.
Look around. There are a lot of slouchers here on the bus, aren't there? And sucking it in? Smacks of work, doesn't it?
It’s funny how often my posture gets attention. I'm serious! Makes me look alert (the world needs more lerts, after all) and just a bit sincere, don’t you think? I can just imagine the conversations that go on around me as I walk down the street…
“That woman over there! Hire her!”
or
“We need someone’s opinion. How about that upright citizen waiting for the bus?”
0
Have I told you lately how much I enjoy the time I spend in my own head?
It’s so warm and comfy in there.
Where to start?
Is it my outrageous earning capacity? My love of the drunken arm-wrestling champeenships? My ability to appear to be paying attention while I’m really making a mental grocery list for later?
No. It is not.
I, my friend, have some awesome posture.
Yeah. I know, right? I’m like a model citizen over here.
I credit my mother. It’s not like she would whap us with a broom or anything, but “stand up straight!” and “suck that in!” were regular commands as a child.
As she has pointed out, we are not from slouching people.
Like the other things that my mother told me over the years (“wash your hands”, “don’t order the fish on a Monday”), the commands to stand up straight and suck in my gut have stuck but good.
I’m sorry to say, though, that I think both standing up straight and sucking in one’s gut have gone the way of changing your own oil or darning your own socks.
Both of which I’ve been known to do.
Look around. There are a lot of slouchers here on the bus, aren't there? And sucking it in? Smacks of work, doesn't it?
It’s funny how often my posture gets attention. I'm serious! Makes me look alert (the world needs more lerts, after all) and just a bit sincere, don’t you think? I can just imagine the conversations that go on around me as I walk down the street…
“That woman over there! Hire her!”
or
“We need someone’s opinion. How about that upright citizen waiting for the bus?”
0
Have I told you lately how much I enjoy the time I spend in my own head?
It’s so warm and comfy in there.
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25 comments:
Congratulations on a life well-lived, at least so far as your posture isconcerned. Yes, I admire people who stand up straight and look the world in the eye.
I still have my mom's hand imprint on my back. Many times during my 14th year she whapped me between the shoulder blades and said, "Hold your back up." Hold your gut in is an oxymoron.
vanilla, I list it on my resume.
:-)
Linda, I think I was about the same age. I didn't slump, but I was constantly being reminded to suck in my gut. The woman wanted to see a flat belly!
Your post, Pearl, made me sit up straight...for just a moment.
Watching Downton Abbey had me thinking a lot about my posture this winter, too.
Watching Downton Abbey had me thinking a lot about my posture this winter, too.
Pearl, good for you.
Warm, comfy and beautifully upright.
I know your Mama is so proud, too.
I was often warned about shoulders back or you will be "round shouldered" like that was a horrible debilitating disease.
Now when I see someone with straight shoulders, I think they look like a "stick in the mud" (also bad, but not sure where that came from.)
Loved this post, took me back a bit.
If I admit how bad my posture is - how I sprawl in my chair and slide my backbone into a 'C' and ooze onto the table during meals - may I still darken the door here? In my defense, I've always felt it had something to do with a family history of weak backs and disc issues ... but maybe I just didn't have a backbone LOL
I admire all those with good posture. And warm, comfy minds.
Your mother and mine came from the same pod, Pearl. I can still hear her telling me to sit or stand up straight and not slouch, though "suck it in" wouldn't have been in her vocabulary. :-)
I was hollered at for years for bad posture and always felt so bad and slovenly. Then, well into my fifties a doctor told me I have curvature of the spine. GRRRR.
Your family seems to have been closely related to mine. As a result I am taller than my partner - or appear so.
All manner of spine are welcome here. :-) Sit, slouch, droop. Make yourself at home.
We don't allow shoes on the furniture, though. I hope we're all clear on that!
I'm only 5'-10" but when I stand up straight I'm 6'-1". Good posture is key.
Haha... it is interesting inside your head Pearl... I was also told not to slouch but it came from my crazy ex step mother... even though she was slightly insane (completely)she was right about that one... oh well...
Pearl, I love being inside your head too. Incidentally, at my advanced age, I found out this week that I've lost an inch in height, while SWMBO has lost FOUR inches. I'm now nearly a foot taller than her.
I'm "round-shouldered" and it's just too late to change, or care. All I can do is salute you Pearl, and those who stand tall! But I probably find more money on the ground than you do.
As the years go by I'm more and more aware of my terrible posture at work as I sit there, hour after hour in front of a keyboard, whiling away the precious days of my life.
My mother used to always tell us to stand up straight, sit like a lady, don't burp-and if you do, apologize.
You can guess how we acted when she was not looking!!!
I'm sitting a little straighter right now, and sucking it in. How can I tell if it's working right? Will someone ask me to take a survey?
"Straighten your shoulders" is one of the commands I grew up with. I always knew you were an upright citizen. :)
I sit, stand and walk reasonably straight still, although I slouch when I'm tired, but trying to suck in my gut is an act of futility. I come from a long, long line of round-in-front people. We're just not built to be flat-bellied. We have wide round ribcages too, we're a stocky breed. But I'm happy as long as my hips don't get wider than my shoulders.
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