Pinehurst: Fifth Grade (2)

Four Eyes

Besides all the drama I had in the fifth grade, there were changes. I had to get glasses. Now for a girl who is maturing, glasses are not something you want to have to wear. First of all, they change your appearance. Instead of seeing you as you are, the glasses introduce themselves to others before you get a chance to speak. "Look at Me! Look at Me" - and they say it so loudly, that if you should remove them, people think, "Man, you look funny."

Additionally, the style of glasses I got were passe'. They were on their way out, but who knew? And being 10 - 11 yrs old and fond of color. . .I got the blue ones, baby blue cat-eye glasses. "Snazzy." Mom also permed my hair that year - and I got it cut into a bubble. So here I was the curly-haired, cat-eye girl with "dizzy spells". (Just the kinds of things to give one confidence as they approach puberty.) [Picture to follow as soon as I find it.]

In fifth grade, we were considered too young for women's upper foundational underwear. Our bodies didn't know that however and continued to change. One girl in our class, who was nearly a year older than the rest of us, did wear such a contrivance, and was teased mercilessly by boys and girls alike. It was the days of white blouses that buttoned up the back -(talk about stupid couture). So blouses were translucent and gave away just enough information to make such teasing possible. Add to the white blouse our plaid skirts and we were wearing the quintessential Catholic School Girl look. We probably wore saddle shoes or some other industrial strength footwear suited to function and not style. It was nerdy and I was the ultimate poster child for that look.