I had a birthday in the last couple of weeks and Kris surprised me with this statement. “After dinner tonight, we’re going to the mall to get something you don’t want.” This, of course, got me to thinking about what I clearly don’t want but which Kris thinks I need.
So, after a dinner at Olive Garden, we drove over to the mall. On our way into JC Penney, Kris said, “I saw what you need here today so I know right where they are.”

Sure enough, Kris thought I needed something I didn’t: Blue Jeans.
We estimate that I haven’t owned or worn blue jeans since my PhD days in Nottingham, but it may be even further back than that. Kris had picked out a pair of carpenter jeans to remind me of my previous jeans … Oshkosh B’Gosh painter pants. Sure enough, I tried them on and, much to my surprise, I liked the feel. “Hmmm,” I was saying to myself, “they don’t make ’em the way they used to.” I even smiled a bit when Kris said, “How do they fit?”
Laura and Mark came to our home Saturday evening and, when Laura saw the jeans, she just laughed. “Dad, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in jeans.” Then she remembered a comment I made when we were in England. Laura had seen that the little English girls were wearing skirts to school so she wanted to wear skirts. My comment: “We’re Americans, Laura; we wear jeans.” (Laura says I said that; I don’t remember saying that.) But soon thereafter, Laura began wearing skirts to school and I forgot about jeans …
Until Friday night.
Hey, Tony, what color of belt do I wear with jeans?