ILPSHORTSTORYVV

A Strong Fashion Statement

James looked around and found himself surrounded by smirks and awkward glances. “Did I use to much too much cologne?” he thought to himself, “Maybe there’s a stain on my shirt.” Everything looked fine, so he just asked a group of people who he caught staring at him. “Hey, do you guys mind telling me what’s so funny?” “Oh, I don’t really know, Queen Elizabeth,” joked one of the men. All the people within earshot either giggled or laughed. Another man yelled, “Hey! Amelia Earhart! Can I have the time?” The laughter from the crowd amplified. Then James realized why. It was his gold wrist watch. He was very busy at the time, and he needed a better and quicker way to check his old, rusty pocket watch. Someone recommended wearing a wrist watch, a new kind of timekeeping device that he had never heard of before. He just assumed it was new to the U.S. When he bought the wrist watch, it came with a warning: “there will be agonizing ridicule to the male who wears it.” James finally understood the reason: it was a women’s accessory. He dashed away from the area, and ran into a nearby market, keeping his hands in his pockets. He walked up to one of the food stands, seeking comfort, when a lady called out, “Does anyone know the time?” As if by instinct, James whipped out his hand and gave her the time. As he looked back up, it was there again. There was a crowd of people just staring at him with curiosity and humor. Once again, he took off. He couldn’t take the pressure of everyone making fun of him, yet it kept happening. All day, on the streets, at the park, and where he ate dinner, there were people teasing him about his wrist watch. He thought of tossing it, but he paid half of all the money he had for it. He had also already thrown away his pocket watch, so it was his only time keeper. He was stuck with it. James tried his best to hide the watch, but to no avail. All the mocking and laughing brought him down to crying on a park bench. While wallowing in his despair, a flyer flew up and hit him in the face. He wiped some dirt of his nose and read the flyer: “Join the army, fight for your country, and earn some respect.” “Join the army, earn some respect…” he thought. The phrase kept repeating in his head. On the other hand, he also thought, “Am I really going to join an army because of a little accessory?” He then remembered what happened that day. He was seen by more than half the city wearing the watch, and it was implied that he was now branded as a “cross-dressing loser”. Driven by his impulse and fear of public humiliation, James found the sign-up address, and ran over there to enlist. He looked around the streets, when he found a building crowded with tall, muscular men. James felt inferior to the rest of the men, but he pushed himself to go in. He pushed through the mob with all his might and got to the sign in table. A small, grumpy looking man sat at the table, staring at his clipboard. Without taking his eyes of his papers, he asked, “Name and age please?” “James Morren, 32 years old.” James replied. The small man gave a surprised reaction, looked up, and gave and gave a smirk. “Look, son,” he said, “we can’t have little guys getting hurt out there for no reason. We can’t recruit you.” “Sir, I may be small, but I can help.” “I’m sorry sir, but we need real men here. I will have to ask you to exit over—” A man ran towards the table, pushed the small man away, and grabbed James’s wrist. He lifted it up and asked, “What is this device you got here lad?” “Yes, I know it’s a wrist watch. It really isn’t that funny,” James answered back. There were some snide remarks behind him. “So it’s called a wrist watch…” the man said. He looked at it with amazement and awe. James was surprised. He asked, “So I’m guessing you have never heard of these either?” The man looked at him, stood up straight, and then said, “My name is Stephen Anderson. I’ve been on the seas as a naval officer for 20 years. I have never seen or heard of any device like this.” James stood straight to show respect. “Well, sir,” he explained, “it’s pretty much a pocket watch with a strap on it. It really isn’t that special.” Stephen looked at him with a somewhat angered face. “If you knew how much of our men died on the field trying to pull a pocket watch out of their uniform, you wouldn’t be saying that. Son, this thing could save a ton of lives in the war.” Everyone in the room heard what was said. People gathered around the table to listen in on the conversation. Stephen took out a small bag of money from his bag and handed it to James. “James, is it? I would like to give you 1000 dollars for this watch. I think the general would appreciate me showing him this. You will be credited, of course.” James was stunned. The only word he could make out was, “Okay.” Stephen gave him a big smile. He stood up on the table, held up the watch, and called out, “This man right here, James Morren, just helped our army and our country by showing me this wrist watch. This piece of equipment may save hundreds of our men. Let’s give him a great round of applause!” The whole room began cheering and chanting James’s name. He looked around, smiling and feeling great, knowing he just gained his respect back.