Bonus First!
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 1:40PM Bonus First: My first bra.
By the time I was in fifth grade, someone (my mom? me?) decided that I should get my first bra. I have no idea why this is so. Because I distinctly remember Heidi Nichols making fun of me in sixth grade (a full year later) about barely having a "fingerful," let alone a "handful." Then again, people also made fun of my nose in middle school, and I seem to have grown into that!
So. Mom and I are at the mall for a bra. I'm sure we shopped at JCPenney or Sears. I remember nothing about the whole experience except what my dad said when he picked us up. I guess he wanted to show that he had some relevance to the world of his 12-year-old daughter. Instead, he made me want to die of embarrassment.
Dad smiled encouragingly at me and said lightly, "Feels just like wearing a small undershirt, doesn't it?"
The question in my mind now, 19 years later, is: How would he know?
I swear to you: My father is not a creepy guy. He's just a guy. And a McGuiggan. Which means that weirdly inappropriate things come out of his mouth with the best and most innocent of intentions. I may not be a guy, but I'm most definitely a McGuiggan. And if I ever have kids I'm sure I will horrify them with my words. I'm sure I've horrified friends and family my own age. I once said the following to a girl in college, not realizing that it might sound insulting: "Did you say something as stupid as I think you just said?" The weird part is that she didn't even seem to get mad.
But back to the bra. If only my dad had had this resource to consult when I was young: http://www.myfirstbra.us/. (Apparently http://www.myfirstbra.net/ was already taken.) Then he would have known that, "For a young girl, a bra is more than an article of clothing, more than a necessity; her bra is her symbol of maturity and growth, an item of fantasy." Yes, an item of fantasy. Exactly. It's not a small undershirt, it's an item of fantasy! In comparison, I'd say that my dad was considerably less creepy than that website.
Go ahead -- Tell me about your first little undershirt in the comments!
Or if you're desperate for more of my firsts, go read the other four.
Reader Comments (3)
Ok, so that is HILARIOUS! I remember just being completely weird about my first bra--I didn't want my dad to know that I had one at ALL. And my mum would do these completely practical yet embarassing things, like wrap up new bras for Christmas and put boxes of pads in my stocking. It was mortifying.
And, was that stupid girl in college me? :)
Pads in your stocking? That IS mortifying. And no, you weren't the "stupid girl" in college. (Wait -- I didn't say that to you, too, did I!?)
Great story . . . and semi-traumatic !! I really don't remember any trauma surrounding my first bra . . . just the fact that the size hasn't changed much in all these years !!!