Random reminder

Press, 17 August 1978, Page 22

Random reminder

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

He was such a small lad that we must accept the fact that being the apple of his mother’s eye, she protected his every move with all the loving care that mums used to lavish on their precious ones. The occasion of this tale was to be the lad’s first game of football and the dreadful thought was that he would be faced not only by the rigours of bodv contacts but also, and even more formidable, the vagaries of the elements, because winter winds freakishly change from hot to cold. Worse still there could be unexpected rain, hail or snow; Protection, that was the name of mum’s game and forthwith she made some warm woolly underpants to be worn under his footy shorts. Picture the line-up of mums and dada round

the field glowing proudly and giving vociferous encouragement. And so our young hero stepped on to the field, fully protected from the elements complete with warm singlet under his jersey and underpants. Unfortunately the underpants were held up merely by tape loops over buttons and obviously, a lot of faith and neither worked. As the match progressed the child became more and more distressed and apparently suffered some physical handicap. Instead of swinging freely when he ran, both hands were clasped fast to his pants in a vain attempt tn retrieve the undergarment which had slipped down by his knees and was virtually leg-roping him. No-one remembers the result of the game, but the memory of the suffering has lingered.