How I entertained myself this Easter

[djm]

When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
Edited by Sandra Martz

Good one. Sounds almost like a Jane Siberry song. If Sandra Martz edited it, who wrote it?

djm

[dubhlinn]

When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
Edited by Sandra Martz

Good one. Sounds almost like a Jane Siberry song. If Sandra Martz edited it, who wrote it?

djm

Jenny Joseph

The original title is "Warning"

Slan,
D.

[Lambchop]

Oh, sorry! When I pasted it, I accidentally cut that part off.

[Charlene]

A friend tried to get me to go to one of the Red Hat meetings. I halfway thought about it, then she said, "When I go, I have to wear pink and lilac, because I'm not 50 yet. Members have to be over 50 and wear a red hat and something purple to every meeting, and if you don't have a red hat they will loan you one."

I thought that was a lot of rules for a group that originated based on a poem that celebrates nonconformity, so I made appropriate noises and never did go to a meeting. Later I stopped in a store that sold Red Hat accessories, and overheard the owner and a friend talking about a recent meeting and what "mother" said (evidently the president of each chapter is called mother) and just the snooty way they were talking made me so glad I never got involved with them.

I dislike having to wear a uniform, especially just because someone says I should.

[hyldemoer]

Not every Red Hat society fits a set mode.

A couple of my friends are in a chapter that is totally lesbian identified.

The RHS chapter I've partied with is totally Pagan identified. None of the other ladies in this chapter is musician (that I know of) but they're a great bunch of wacky old crones just the same.

[Charlene]

Not every Red Hat society fits a set mode.

A couple of my friends are in a chapter that is totally lesbian identified.

The RHS chapter I've partied with is totally Pagan identified. None of the other ladies in this chapter is musician (that I know of) but they're a great bunch of wacky old crones just the same.

OK, maybe I need to get out of pokey old Spokane and move someplace more open minded.

[Cynth]

A friend tried to get me to go to one of the Red Hat meetings. I halfway thought about it, then she said, "When I go, I have to wear pink and lilac, because I'm not 50 yet. Members have to be over 50 and wear a red hat and something purple to every meeting, and if you don't have a red hat they will loan you one."

I thought that was a lot of rules for a group that originated based on a poem that celebrates nonconformity, so I made appropriate noises and never did go to a meeting. Later I stopped in a store that sold Red Hat accessories, and overheard the owner and a friend talking about a recent meeting and what "mother" said (evidently the president of each chapter is called mother) and just the snooty way they were talking made me so glad I never got involved with them.

I dislike having to wear a uniform, especially just because someone says I should.

"mother"?

To each her own though. Just not for me .

[Lambchop]

Just as you thought you were getting too old for there to be cliques . . .

[missy]

Red Hat? nah........

You wanna be a Sweet Potato Queen!!!!

http://www.sweetpotatoqueens.com/spq/

[emmline]

Not every Red Hat society fits a set mode.

A couple of my friends are in a chapter that is totally lesbian identified.

The RHS chapter I've partied with is totally Pagan identified. None of the other ladies in this chapter is musician (that I know of) but they're a great bunch of wacky old crones just the same.

Well, I'm glad to hear that some of the groups maybe aren't so sorority-ish.
I've seen them out and about around here, all in red hats and something purple, and it does seem (to me anyway) that the determination to be oneself regardless of societal expectations, which is the sentiment at the heart of the poem, is a little lost when you form a club and require everyone to dress as exactly the same rebel.
OTOH, I think some women find great support and comfort in clubs and groups, so it may be that the same sort of lady who loved her sorority would, later in life, love her red hat group. So, I don't mean to be reverse-snobbish about it just because I've never done girl-groups very well.

[hyldemoer]

I've seen them out and about around here, all in red hats and something purple, and it does seem (to me anyway) that the determination to be oneself regardless of societal expectations, which is the sentiment at the heart of the poem, is a little lost when you form a club and require everyone to dress as exactly the same rebel.

When some one told me to wear all purple but the hat should be red, what I wore came no way close to what everyone else wore. There are a lot of different shades of purple and a lot of different fashions that come in those colors.

RHS is a marketing strategy.
A bunch of ladies show up anywhere wearing all purple with red hats and businesses bend over backwards trying to make them feel welcome. Businesses want word to go out to the RHs grapevine that what they sell is what RHS ladies want.

This works two ways.
Women past a certain age tend to be treated less than say a group of young well dressed 20-30 somethings.

If the boss has instructed the waite-staff and cooks that any group that comes in wearing purple with red hats is to be treated like visiting dignitaries, hey it works.
Ya show up and its all smiles.

Besides, its kind of fun seeing how each woman interprets the color rule (I've considered putting a purple tint on my grey hair for the day. Our "Queen Mother", the sweet dear, dyes her hair to more match her hat.) and those hats can be rather outlandish.

How did this subject shift from my catching a person stealing my landscaping on Easter?

[rh]

How did this subject shift from my catching a person stealing my landscaping on Easter?

[Cynth]

I've seen them out and about around here, all in red hats and something purple, and it does seem (to me anyway) that the determination to be oneself regardless of societal expectations, which is the sentiment at the heart of the poem, is a little lost when you form a club and require everyone to dress as exactly the same rebel.

When some one told me to wear all purple but the hat should be red, what I wore came no way close to what everyone else wore. There are a lot of different shades of purple and a lot of different fashions that come in those colors.

RHS is a marketing strategy.
A bunch of ladies show up anywhere wearing all purple with red hats and businesses bend over backwards trying to make them feel welcome. Businesses want word to go out to the RHs grapevine that what they sell is what RHS ladies want.

This works two ways.
Women past a certain age tend to be treated less than say a group of young well dressed 20-30 somethings.

If the boss has instructed the waite-staff and cooks that any group that comes in wearing purple with red hats is to be treated like visiting dignitaries, hey it works.
Ya show up and its all smiles.

Besides, its kind of fun seeing how each woman interprets the color rule (I've considered putting a purple tint on my grey hair for the day. Our "Queen Mother", the sweet dear, dyes her hair to more match her hat.) and those hats can be rather outlandish.

How did this subject shift from my catching a person stealing my landscaping on Easter?

It's your bad luck ! I think there are probably people who tend to do group things and others who don't. I dropped out of the Brownies myself. I do think that older people are sort of put in the background a lot of the time, so from that point of view if groups wearing red hats get first class treatment, I must say that does sound like a good thing Shoot, I might just go get a red hat---I guess there probably has to be more than one person in the group though, eh?

[Charlene]

How did this subject shift from my catching a person stealing my landscaping on Easter?

Blame Lamby - she posted the poem!

Maybe you need one of these:


It's supposed to scare deer and other animals away, but it works on a motion sensor so it would work on people too.

Details at http://www.smarthome.com/6120.html but you can probably find it at any local garden center and save the postage.

[Cynth]

That looks like a very neat thing if it really works. I know a lot of people have terrible problems with deer and build fences and scatter lion poop and all sorts of things. This looks simple and no one gets hurt.