See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Stanley P. Gershbein
Brooklyn Daily
Most people wear their Sunday best when on vacation. Not me. I prefer traveling with clothing that I refer to as “One more wearing before I give it away.”
We just returned from a mega-marvelous vacation in Hawaii. Sitting on an airplane for that many hours calls for very comfortable, loose fitting slacks and an oversized shirt. These were the clothes I wore before I went on that diet. I kept them for the return flight because I knew that this vacation of several days in a Waikiki hotel followed by a one-week cruise through the islands will cause a five to seven pound weight gain — and it did.
After wearing my clean used clothing, I told some of the hotel and ship employees to take the garments home with them. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled they were to receive used, but still in decent condition, Yankees and Mets T-shirts, old college sweatshirts, casual uniforms from the good old days when I worked (yes, I really worked), and slacks.
Another advantage of these giveaways is the creation of more room in my luggage to bring back souvenirs and gifts — and I did. Please note: these were travel, casual items. The good suits and ties were donated last year to a group that collects clothing for men who are out there looking for jobs and want to dress appropriately.
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Although I did not see any of it, I was told that there are some old-timers who are still demonstrating against Hawaiian statehood. I was near a discussion where one man used the phrase,“Back in America…..”
He was greeted with, “Excuse me? You are in America right now.” He was instruction to say, “Back in the mainland.”
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I cannot recall ever witnessing such patriotism as I did on July Fourth. On the ship as well as on land, wherever we went, there were live bands, loudspeakers and slide shows greeting us with the National Anthem followed by invitations to sing along “America The Beautiful,” “God Bless America,” “Grand Old Flag,” “Yankee Doodle,” and on and on. Never in all of my years have I seen such an outpouring of patriotism. Hawaiians are very proud to be Americans, and they let you know it.
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Travel to the Aloha State calls for expensive airplane tickets while here in the great 48, the flights to so many states are a lot cheaper. You might want to plan to visit this great country starting with a few of our states nearby. There’s a lot to see and do in this marvelous nation. No matter where you travel to on your next vacation, I am StanGershbein@Bellsouth.net asking you to please boycott Mexico until they give us back our marine.