Member-only story
Buckled
A Short Story about Trousers Written at the Height of Boredom During the Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown
The local chapter meeting of the Global Collective of Men’s Trousers (GLOCOMET) grew rowdier as Chinos Brown tapped the lavalier mic flirting with his fly button.
“Calm down … calm down.” He shouted above the noise in the jampacked closet of jumbled fabrics. The noise faded into a steady murmur punctuated by the thump-thump sound of the microphone over which Brown’s voice could be heard.
“I know these are strange times. At a point in our noble history, you could tell much about a man by what trousers he wore and how he wore them but these times-are-a-changing”
“No offense P.J.,” he continued, “but how did we get to trousers like you putting trousers like Canali out of work?”
Everyone’s attention turned to a blue-and-red striped pajamas slumped into a corner crinkling at the unwanted attention.
“That is classist. This is minority shaming!” yelled a grey and beige khaki short folded in an open drawer, joined by others, causing a short-lived protest that died out in enough time for Chinos Brown to catch a few breaths and resume his speech.
“No, it isn’t. It is the weirdness of this new normal.” He sighed heavily.
