Pink Pants & Little Red Wagons

Just thinking back to when I was a boy and remembering some of the experiences I had.

There was this guy that started coming to our church. His last name was "Vossler". (I'm not sure of the spelling)

Anyway, he had this pair of pink pants that he wore and he always wore cowboy boots and a western style shirt and a big western belt buckle. He dressed "corny" to say the least.

Lo and behold, my mother came in from shopping one day and had bought me a new pair of pants....and they were SALMON PINK!!!!

Of course my bratty brothers began right away calling me "Vossler"! Whatcha doing, Vossler? Where ya goin Vossler? Are ya gonna wear those pink pants, Vossler? and it was a never ending source of fun for them and humiliation for me. Of course there was NO WAY my mother was gonna let me NOT wear those pink pants! Every time I complained I got the same old song and dance about some little boy somewhere who would love to have a pair of pants like that. I wish I could have found that little sucker! I'd of give him a quarter (if I had one) just to take those pants!

From the very beginning I began to think of a way to get rid of those pants without momma knowing that I did it on purpose!

It so happened that Christmas Day was on Sunday that year and so we were up bright and early to open gifts. We NEVER opened gifts on Christmas Eve, no matter what, so even though it put us in a rush to get ready for church, we had to wait until Christmas morning to open gifts !That year I got a Red Wagon for Christmas!

So, after opening our gifts we were instructed to get ready for church and guess what? Mom had laid out those salmon pink pants! I knew better than to argue with her when the rush was on to get everyone ready for church. So, I dressed in a hurry, and believe it or not I talked mom into letting me ride down the hill "just one time" in my new wagon! The last thing she said when I went out th door was "And you had better NOT get those clothes messed up"!

Luck (or something) had shined on me, as it had rained a day or so earlier and there was still plenty of water and mud around. I took the wagon up the hill a little way and when I looked back down the hill..... THERE IT WAS... a beautiful puddle of muddy water!

Before I could "chicken out" I hopped in that wagon and down the hill I went, aiming for the puddle of mud. Just as I reached the puddle I turned that handle on the wagon and "SPLAT!!" I hit on my knees right center of that mud puddle!! My real intention was to get those pants so dirty that I would have to wear something else to church (it was worth getting my hiny busted) and so at least have a reprieve from the teasing by my bratty brothers.

BUT IT WAS MY DAY!!

Unknown to me there was a rock buried in that mud and one of my knees caught that rock and ripped those ugly pants in such a way that they couldn't be patched!! I went to the house, crying as though I was severely injured. (that rock DID hurt!)My mother was aghast at the condition of my clothes and somewhat concerned about my knee. But not enough to keep her from griping all the way to church and for the rest of the week or so!

It took a long time for my mother to finally get her fill of griping about those "good" pants I had ruined. As they say: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... and I saw NOTHING good about those pants except that they were no longer wearable!!

That put a stop to the "Vossler" jokes and I could take any other teasing my bratty brothers came up with. I was finally free of those "pink" pants!!

Every time I looked at those scrathches on the side of my wagon, I had to smile! To me they just gave that wagon some "character"!