Crazy Pants

i vaguely/distinctly remember the first time i ever saw someone wearing capri pants. i was in my car, in toronto, at yonge and bloor, with jeehon. as we sat at the red light, a person (i think it was a man!) walked in front of our car wearing pants that weren't long enough to be pants, but weren't short enough to be shorts. jeehon and i laughed and drove on. we thought it was so ridiculous. and then before we knew it- everyone was wearing capris, and my sister and i were certainly part of the everyone.

i remember the first time i ever tried on skinny jeans. i was at forever21, and i was with jeehon (man! you'd think from this post that we haven't spent most of our adult lives living on different continents!), and i came out of the dressing room and we just knew- it wasn't right. i was too short to pull this 'trend' off. and the pants were too tight. and i wasn't 21 any more so why was i shopping here? but guess what happened next? everyone and their mother (mine included!) started wearing skinny jeans. including me. and excluding jeehon. she's such a rebel sometimes. and i believe i have never seen Elisa Watson in skinny jeans either. i know two rebels.

but isn't it funny how sometimes you see something, and the first time you see it you are shocked/disgusted/amazed/annoyed. but then you see it over and over and over again and then you become numb to it. you even succumb to it. you even try the pants on again. and you convince yourself that you do in fact like those pants. that you do in fact somehow look good in those pants. and then you pay money for those crazy pants.

i remember, in my sweet, innocent, youth- thinking that divorce was for quitters and bad kids were a result of bad parenting,

i'm older now. it's fair to say that i'm jaded now. i wear crazy pants now for pete's sake. but i know that NO ONE knows what's going on in anybody's home except your own. and if you aren't paying attention- you (i!) might not even really know what's going on inside your own home.

i have seen marriages disintegrate/implode due to sin. i have seen marriages work through unfaithfulness. i have seen good parents struggle with bad choices that their kids have made. i have seen bad parents abandon their precious little ones to a very broken and sad foster care system, but somehow come out on the other side with very very good, responsible, amazing kids who grow to be amazing, responsible, good adults. i have learned you can't judge anybody because you have no idea what they have been through and what they are going through. you don't know why people are wearing the pants that they are wearing. did someone force them to put them on? or did they choose it themselves? were those the only pants available to them? is that even ever really an option or a complete cop out?

what pants are you wearing and why? were you appalled the first time you saw someone wearing those same pants- or were you amazed? i hope it's the second, and not the first. but here's the good news- you can always, always, change your pants. sometimes you need help getting out of them, and then you're gonna have to call some really good friends that you are comfortable enough with to have them see you in your undies. but call them. and change your crazy pants.

this post is dedicated to my absolutely amazing family and friends who have helped me out of some bad pants situations, and helped me into good pants. and i do still shop at forever21. even though i am almost 34.