IN BLACK AND WHITE DAYS

You know, before there was color in the world. Actually in this part of the world there was color, but overseas, on the other side of the pond, the world was only seen as a black and white tv show.

At about junior high age, American girls started shaving their legs. Not so in some other parts of the world. Same for armpits. When nylons didn't connect to the panties, garter belts were what held them up. Remember, I told you these were black and white days.

Where am I going with this? Of all the images that came to mind when I saw this photo, the first was about a French girl. Annike, who sat next to me in my English IV class.

She also dated a good friend of mine. Who heard an awfully lot from other guys about Annike's hairy legs. I knew he liked her a lot, so I never mentioned it to him. But she wore the hose, the hair got matted down so bad that it looked like black little worms washed up on the shore.

These were the days of the mini skirts, so Annike's legs were often on display. Had she been a foreign exchange student a decade later, when bell bottoms were in vogue, most would probably have never known.

In my later college years, there were a few rebels who decided not to shave, but most I knew were blonde and thus not as distinguishable. Annike was harrier than most of the guys, including her boyfriend, so maybe it was a jealousy thing.

Or maybe it was just time to make a tv adjustment and get that color on the scene.