A Red Ribbon For a Sewing Machine With Character
Janet was the conceited owner of an antique sewing machine. It was one of her obsession to show off her machine in fairs and antique shows. Her husband, Jim, had other feelings about the sewing machine because he was the one who had to load up and empty out the machine. His wife would stand over him and order him not to scratch the cabinet. Her worrisome voice screamed each time Jim moved the machine to get in their car.
In September, the State Fair of Texas opened. The fair included an antique show. Janet was invited to show her vintage Singer at the fair. She had grand hopes that her machine would win a red ribbon. She took shined and oiled her machine. She wanted her Singer to operate perfectly at the show. She found thread that was made the same year the antique machine was manufactured. She wanted everything to be perfect. Instead of using her car to move her machine, she had Jim rent a Ford pick-up truck. She was not going to trust Jim’s loading the machine in her car.
She vigilantly wrapped her machine in blanket to ensure the machine and cabinet would not be scratched. She had Jim load the machine on the bed of the pickup. Jim wanted to tie the Singer sewing machine next to the back wall of the pick-up. However, Janet protested not in favor of this idea thinking it would scratch the machine’s cabinet. She commanded that he put the machine in the middle of the bed and fasten it with minimal ties.
As Janet drove the truck to the State fair, she wondered if the judges would know all the particulars of vintage Singer sewing machines and how rare her Singer model was. While driving, she drove into a big pot-hole that jolted the truck. With a big crash the antique sewing machine hit the floorboards of the truck. Janet screamed in horror as she saw her pride and joy lying in the back of the truck.
Janet unpacked her precious sewing machine discovered scratches and dents in the cabinet. When she opened the cabinet up thread spool was bent and the foot petal was jammed. Her hopes for a first place win seemed to be gone forever. Jim encouraged her to enter her machine and pay no attention to the damages.