Ole Joyful,

You know we love you, but... you've got to let the old underwear go. Sorry, we're not saving you on this one.

Now let me see if I understand this. Do you have to wear out the first pair before trading for another or can you gather up a dozen of your worn out breezies and trade those in? If #1 is the answer then I would seriously question the friendship but if it's #2 then do as adella says and gather them up and trade em in.

Well, I am wondering did you trade one old pair in already?

Sue

Love the traders idea....that's a clever person with a great sense of humor. So little time, so many undies.....go for it!

I'm thinkin maybe Ole joyful doesn't have any to trade (wink wink)

OJ, you know we love you, but why do you want to find a way around it? Just be thankful that your undies are no longer gonna slip down around your knees. XXOO for OJ!

Maybe you could ask the gift giver to return the trade-ins to you cut into rags and you can repurpose them. I know you already know many useful ways to get further use from them. You are like Linus and his blanket.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, and from what you have told us about your underwear, it parted long ago.
On with the new, off with the old!

So a nice person wants you to have new underwear. This person seems to know that you will put them aside and continue to wear saggy, droopy, holey briefs. (I can't help but hear that old guy from American Idol - "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground!")

Give up the old, accept the new. Anything else is an insult to the giver, who clearly has your best interest at heart.

I think it depends on "WHO" is holding on to these new precious undies!!

"...ask the gift giver to return the trade-ins to you cut into rags..."

Well, good idea, but... Can't you see my buddy OJ tying those rags together and using them again???? ;)

Bring a dozen stretched out, worn out ones and get what you can for them!!

Why didn't I think of that when my dad was alive??? He had more new clothes in his closet and dressers. It was a shame.

Eulogy to Ole JoyfulÂs Underwear

We gather here today at the KT to say goodbye to Ole JoyfulÂs underwear. Through stretched elastic and worn thin, they had a long life and enjoyed many years. Who can forget the many discussions and anecdotes of they were a part. May they forever rest in peace in the great afterlife which they now enter. Goodbye underwear!

How many men "of a certain age" have this many folks interested in his underwear?

Hey, do yourself a favor, and just get them bloomers down to your friend, and get your newuns picked up. No longer having to do repair work on the oldies will free up some time to do something else more fun or productive.

What a hilarious thread...

Sue

LOl! Sign my name to adellabedella's post!

Tami

I can't believe no one has produced a Haiku in honor of the undapants!

Also, would somebody fill us in on the history of this dilemma? Is there a joyful man wandering around with droopy drawers???

Do I detect a certain shortage of compassion, here?

The giver is - my son and his lady-friend.

o j

I think we guessed that, Ed. The giver had to be someone who knew you well. DO NOT leave a drawer full of brand new unused undies behind as a legacy for this wonderful and careing couple. LOL

Embrace the new skivers
From the kind and thoughtful givers
And repurpose the old or they'll become like mold
Slightly odoreth and not to be beholdeth.

Hi folkvictorian,

Some months ago I spoke of having what I thought to be a problem ... that some of my old underwear briefs had developed elastics so old and tired that they were inclined to stretch things ...

... and would slide down around my knees on the outside, while hung up by the crotch of my pants, putting me in a bind so to speak ...

... but that when I realized that, were I a female, gone shopping downtown in a dress, and had such a situation befall me - that would be a PROBLEM!

My situation was merely a dilemma!

One responder said that she'd done such, they tripped her, she fell with her forehead hitting a wooden container in the store, with blood flowing, ambulance called, etc. - costly!

I'd thought to install short pieces of elastic, but that would cause bunching, and stretching between them (with possible rips), and were I to install a new elastic all round each of the nearly a dozen pairs ... it'd be darn near as costly as buying new!

So I thought that I'd get a single stretchy elastic and make a belt, which would work for a half dozen or so of the briefs, but came to ask how to fasten it, as a button wouldn't do in an elastic.

Everyone said that I should merely buy new ... but I said that few were holey ... and the one(s) that were, were mainly in the middle of the back, not under the hip bones where they should be - so I wondered whether I must have been jet-propelled at some time (that I'd been unaware of).

And they were scarcely discoloured, so I felt that they had a substantial amount of potentially useful life remaining, given some alteration.

Someone made an intreresting offer - that if I'd send the affected ones to her, she'd replace the elastic in each of them ...

... for $10.00 a pair.

One or two others felt that to be a wise offer ... to a frugal old fella like me.

Someone came on to suggest that this seemed a rather frivolous post ... someone wondered whether it was for real ... and someone else said that she'd been having rather a dreary day .... until she'd come upon that thread ... and that it'd made her day!

My landlord, a busy sod farmer (though not so busy last year, with fewer houses being built, as we've had a major plant closing, with a major Ford assembly plant nearby about to close next year) said that I have too much time on my hands.

'Nuff said.

ole joyful

Penny wise and pound foolish. Take the new skivvies and wear them.

Next time it's a full moon go over to their house and ask them if they want to see what a real full moon looks like.

Joyfulguy, I have a simple fix for this. I think you've been spending quite a bit of time worrying about the failing elastic and everything. So much time, in fact, that your son and his Dearheart purchased new underthings for you and are holding them as ransom for your old ones.

Make sonny and his gal happy buy turning in the old pants. You'll be so happy in your new pants and in time, you'll realize how much your thoughts and energy were wasted on worrying about the old ones. Secondly, the new ones will be out of your son's home and he won't have to worry about YOU worrying about your underpants every time he sees the new ones sitting there at his house.

However, we still have to worry about what will happen to the old pants, since you're still very attached to them. Ahem.

Spring is coming. Mama and papa birdies put a lot of energy into building soft and warm nests for their babies. Cut the elastic off the old pants and wash the fabric in clear water to remove as much detergent residue as possible. Then, using a sharp scissors, cut them into little strips. When it gets warm out and the birds are looking for nesting materials, put the strips outside so that the birdies will find them and incorporate the snuggly strips into their nests. The babies will be warm, your son and his gal will be pleased, the pants will have gone to their great reward, and you'll be joyful again since you know that you brought comfort to the baby birds. What do you think of that?

What do you think of that?
I for one think the nesting strips sounds like the perfect way to recycle them, possibly again, and again.

Once when I was doing some yard work for a dear elderly frugal neighbor, I asked if she maybe had an old rag handy to wipe my hands on. She thought a bit before replying with a chuckle, "No, I'm still wearing them."

I remember her fondly and think often of her wonderful ways of making things last and not wasting much of anything.

I have another elderly frugal friend that once handed me a rag that had more holes than what it had material. I took her a few new rags so I would have a decent one when I needed it there at her house.

Joyful, are you trying for a spot on American Idol? (under)Pants on the ground, (under)Pants on the ground, lookin' like Ol' Joyful with (under)Pants on the ground....

Didn't your mother teach you to have new underwear on in case you have to go to the hospital??? :)

I usually wear only one, not sure why someone needs a "pair".

Or should we consider why women wear a "pair" of panties, and one bra?

Now go change your drawers... and underwear too before someone calls you a late-bloomer!