Black Socks & Shorts

I am of an age where I don't yet think of myself as old. I am also no longer under illusion that I am a young man. While I am not exactly an example of sartorial elegance, there are certain things that I never thought I would consider wearing. For instance, even when I was in the best shape of my life, I would have never considered wearing a speedo.

As a teenager, I remember watching the older men in the neighborhood mowing their lawns in their Bermuda shorts and black socks. My friends and I would laugh and joke about such fashion statements. We could not understand how anybody could be that "uncool" to dress that way.

Several years ago, I was playing second base on a church soft ball team. At the time, I was in pretty good shape. I lifted weights, played sports, and was a solid 200 pounds. During one game, I was attempting to turn a double play and was slid into by a fairly large guy.

It seemed like no big deal at the time, but the next day my knee was pretty sore, so I went to see the doctor. A week later, at a follow up, the doc had me go to the emergency room to get a venogram done. I spent the next ten days in the hospital with a blood clot in my leg. A few years later, I was hospitalized a second time with another blood clot.

So what does my health history have to do with wearing black socks with shorts? One of the things that my doctor suggested was that I should wear compression stockings to prevent further clotting episodes. I have always resisted doing so for two reasons; one is that I do not like constricting clothes and two is that they are rather expensive.

Recently, though, I have started having some problems with my legs. By the end of the day, my legs get very tired and swell a little bit. So over the weekend I bought a pair of compression dress socks to try. I wore then all day today, and they seemed to help with the swelling.

Now, I am thinking that I may have to wear them from now on. So far, I have only been able to find the socks in black (did I mention that they come up to the knees?) It is going to start getting warm soon, so I will have to make a decision. When I wear my shorts, do I wear my usual ankle high socks that do not provide the compression I apparently need, or do I wear the knee high, black socks that do? One thing for sure, I will never look at a man with black socks and shorts with the same mocking disdain I did before.

Joe Biden Can Kiss My Ass!

As the parent of a 14 year old boy with autism, I know all too well the joys and definitely the challenges of having a special needs child. I worry everyday about what will happen to him when he gets older and my wife and I are not around or can't take care of him. There is nobody who can question how much I love my son.

By now, we all know that the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee is the mother of a baby boy with Down's Syndrome. She is also the aunt of a child with autism. During her acceptance speech, Palin pledged to the parents of special needs children that they would have an advocate for their kids in the White House. We also know that Palin is an Evangelical Christian and for that reason does not support stem cell research.

So now we have Joe Biden with the following quote. “I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy, because there’s joy to it as well, the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect. Well guess what folks? If you care about it, why don’t you support stem cell research?”

How is this anything but a direct attack against Sarah Palin and her moral and religious beliefs? John McCain has come out as being in support of stem cell research. Palin is the one who is opposed, and Palin is the one who has spoken of helping parents of children of special needs.

There are two things that piss me off here. First is the attack of somebody's beliefs that are not political in nature, but based on morals and religious code. Second, and maybe even more important to me personally, is the implication that parents of children with special needs don't care as much for their kids if they do not agree with Joe Biden's political policies.

Personally, I would support limited stem cell research under very controlled and specific conditions. However, I fully understand and respect anybody that is against stem cell research for moral and religious reasons.

So, if I ever have the opportunity to meet Senator Biden, I will gladly turn around, drop my drawers, bend over, and tell Biden to "KISS MY ASS!"