Catherine: Guess how much we paid for the skirt.
Eddie: I think it's too short, ain't it?
Catherine, standing: No! Not when I stand up.
Eddie: Yeah, but you gotta sit down sometimes.
.
~A View from the Bridge, Arthur Miller. p. 6
We look in the dressing room mirror at that skirt, and it is perfect. It reaches past our knees and nobody could have any objection to it. What we sometimes fail to realize is how different that skirt will look once we sit down; or perhaps we simply don't want to think about that and push that thought from our minds because we know it might prevent us from buying that 'perfect' skirt or dress.
One of my friends recently remarked that she needs to make some alterations to it in order to make it longer, and I replied that I did not see any need for that as it completely covered her knees. She explained that when she sits in it, her knees are visible, and she would rather put some extra fabric at the bottom than have it as it is. I was kind of impressed by that, because from what I have seen in Brooklyn, a lot of girls really don't care how the skirt looks when they're sitting down. Imagine sitting in a tight pencil skirt that barely covers the knees while standing -- once you're seated, it definitely does not cover them. (Then imagine girls sitting with their legs crossed in those skirts, when there's really not much left to the imagination.)
I was just surprised to come across an idea that applies to Judaism in an Arthur Miller play. I guess he knew what he was writing about.
