starch or no starch

 My grandmother was a laundress. I know it isn't a term you hear a lot these days but that is what she did to earn her living. Folks dropped their dirty laundry off at her house where she washed, ironed and folded it all. Grandma never drove an automobile in her life and in her last ten years on earth didn't go any further than three miles or so from home. Her primary heating source in her house was a kitchen stove. It burned either wood or coal, quite the convenience. She did have an electric refrigerator. She had her routine, Monday was always a wash day followed by ironing and folding, then washing again as needed to complete the weeks work. She didn't " work " on Sunday, that was the lords day. No, on Sunday she cleaned her house, chopped more firewood, did her sewing and mending and maybe some baking just for fun. I never heard her complain about any of it. I'm certain that was just her sparing us children from hearing any of that. There being nothing we could do to help her change her situation in life what would be the point? Grandma raised ten children of her own and understood children well. I would say Grandma, NaNa, as I called her was about as stoic a woman as you would want to meet. Practical and to the point.
 I was thinking about this this morning. When folks dropped out their laundry Grandma always asked, starch or no starch? She was, of course, referring to the collars and cuffs mostly. I asked her about that one day and she explained it to me. She told me the ones that wanted starch were all about business and the ones without were worried about comfort. She told me that is pretty much the two types of people you will meet in the world. You have those that observe the proprieties, that think about others before themselves and they will ask for starch. It may be uncomfortable, it may even chaff a bit, but it is what a professional will wear. Then you have the others. With the others it is personal comfort that comes first. Never mind about appearance, never mind about what other people see, as long as it is comfortable to you, that is what matters! It is those folks that degrade the quality in life, it is those that " relax " the rules normalizing that which isn't normal. Never in history has that analogy been more obvious than in America today. We have an entire political party dedicated to that. NaNa was right, not much changes in the world. The only thing that changes are the people.
 You can decide on starch or no starch. Those are pretty much your choices in life. It does require a bit more effort, more commitment to take the starch. As I said, it may even chaff a bit but it isn't about comfort, it is about what is right. Collars and cuffs are meant to be stiff, it is in their design. You can decide to do what is right, even when met with opposition, or you can decide to just go soft. When you go soft you lose your purpose. You might as well not be there at all! Then you are like the spectators at a sporting event. You are the one cheering for everyone else. You usually just go with the popular choice. It demands on what the crowd is chanting at the moment! But if you have a team and it is losing, the others are cheating. I hear that all the time, have even been guilty of using that excuse myself. Does any of that sound familiar? Well the bottom line is this, even though it may chaff, it may irritate, maybe you don't even like it, but you have to go with what is right. It isn't always comfortable. You don't go soft because it is easier. The British are famous for saying, " keep a stiff upper lip " and we all understand the implication there. As my Dad was found of saying, " don't start blubbering " do something about it. Seems to me a whole lot of folks spend every day " blubbering " about everything that is uncomfortable to them. They would be better served to learn to live with it.