Keep Safety Pins Handy

As a child I wondered why, on laundry day, mom had a chain of safety pins around her neck. She just said they were mother's jewelry. I have since learned that the pins were removed from assorted items until laundry was dry, and she would re-pin them. This was done so the wringer of the washing machine would not bend, or otherwise damage, the pins.

Granted wringer washers are not used now, usually, but I have learned to keep a couple large pins attached to the cell phone/ID case I wear around my neck. The most recent uses were to pin the back part of granddaughter's dress, so it would not fall off her shoulders, and to pin up one leg of a pair of jeans for a friend. He usually wears a prosthesis, but not on that particular day. He asked me to pin up the leg of the jeans so it would not drag on the ground.

I always have a couple pins with me, just in case.

By Linda from Bloomington, IL from Bloomington, IL