Tying One On

When I was seven years old, I remember asking my father if it was hard to make a knot in his tie. "Nope," he said. "Let me show you." And that morning, I learned the four-in-hand method.

This week I started on some new volunteer work with an organization that is out to crush poverty. (I love their t-shirts, which highlight the word "over" in poverty.) They work from a place of great respect for those they help, so the clothes, furniture and housewares they collect and disburse are in pristine condition, and when they are helping to furnish someone's home, they put a room of furniture together that's aesthetically pleasing; not someone else's castoff collection of odds and ends.

There are many options for volunteers, so I am trying out a few of the opportunities to see where I might add the most value. My first assignment was in their professional development center, matching a group of men who have interviews coming up with the right suits, shirts, ties, belts and shoes. These fellows were cheerful, polite, and excited about their new clothes. But they were most excited about the possibility of employment after completing the training program they had entered after their release from prison.

One of the men quietly chose a suit and two shirts, and walked over to the tie rack, where I pulled a few that went well with his choices. "Why don't you try on all of the pieces together and see how they look?" I said. He demurred, and seemed embarrassed, and then said, "I don't know how to tie a tie." I slipped two ties around my neck, knotted them perfectly, then loosened them and handed them over to their new owner, who was beaming. "I'm gonna keep them just like this," he said, hanging each one carefully with its coordinating shirt.

Here's to a fresh start with a new set of clothes and a jolt of confidence. And here's to all the dads out there who teach their children how to tie just the right knot. You never know when your kid might need to use it.

© 2016 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie