Disaster Averted

The change to the new order of things had begun with Monica Bushnell. With the support of the ACLU and NOW, she sued, citing the double standard of men being able to be bare-chested in public and women not having that right. The case, Bushnell vs Cuomo, had gone to the Supreme Court after reversals and appeals at lower court levels. In a seven-to-two decision, for which the Chief Justice wrote the majority opinion, the law of the land was interpreted to mean that women had the same right to bare portions of their anatomy in public as men did.

Some backward states resisted, altering their laws and forbidding men to bare their chests, legs, or other body parts in public. Those states quickly found federal law and public opinion were not in their favor.

The nude protest by thousands of men and women outside the Rhode Island state house had cinched the nation’s public opinion and unified it. Quickly, a standardized law had been passed in all fifty states, the United States territories, and the District of Columbia: without proof of lewdness, nudity in public places would not be restricted.

Many coastal states, among them New Jersey, New York, and Florida had passed laws overriding more restrictive municipal ordinances. Now every toilet-trained child under the age of thirteen could and should be nude while on the beach, boardwalk, or streets of the resort towns, and teenagers and adults were required to be nude on ‘family’ beaches. As one state senator said to the press, in opposition, “After all, adults are required to wear a beach badge on our beaches, where would they pin them without at least a bottom?” A wristband system soon dispelled any need for a bottom.

One charter school led the way by making all classroom and school activities clothing optional for both the faculty and the students. Soon the word spread and entire school districts were permitting students to attend classes in the nude.

Businesses followed suit. Soon bank tellers, servers, and gas station attendants were no longer saying, “Have A Good Day.” to their patrons, instead the standard exchange became, “Have A Nude Day.”

Oddly, the older and middle-aged population took to the new laws with greater ease than young adults and older teenagers. Gradually, as they saw their folks and grand folks display their every flaw to the world, the middle ground between 18 and 35 adjusted to the new order of things. As one 18-year-old girl was quoted in the press, “Grandma has varicose veins and her boobs hang down to her belly. If she can do it then so can I.” The accompanying photo showed the girl proudly on full display, hands on hips, left knee cocked, and a sidelong glance over her shoulder.

Several industries took a financial hit from this cultural change. Swimsuits became almost non-existent, going the way of American-designed and built automobiles. The few swimsuits in high-end stores were imported from Brazil, France, and Israel. As Walmart, Target, and Sears had long ago discontinued sales of swimwear, the overseas sweatshop-made suits were not being sewn in China, Vietnam, or Thailand any longer.

Winter outerwear for men, women, and children was now a heavy pair of felted boots and an ankle-length down or polar fleece coat. Few wore anything beneath, and lockers for coats and boots were provided everywhere.

As everyone was required to provide a clean towel to sit on in public places, that industry boomed. In foul weather, it was not unusual for stores and restaurants to hand a patron a towel upon entering the premises and fresh towels were always on the seats of every dining facility.

There were, of course, many exceptions. Hazardous workplaces in construction, firefighters, police, the military, and hospital employees from doctors and administrators down to housekeeping and dietary were all clothed jobs. Many simply dressed on arrival at work and left for home nude again.

The most interesting day in the new culture had been declared Celebrating American Freedom Day. It fell, by law of Congress, on the second Monday of August every year. It was a national holiday, akin to President’s Day, the Fourth of July, or Labor Day.

The proclamation for it read, “On this day Every American Citizen, and those residing on American soil, shall present themselves to Friends, Family, and Neighbors, nude, in celebration of our national freedoms.”

So, dear reader, this is where our story really begins, CAF Day 2015.

Wick and Marti (short for Martina) Calfi awoke that Monday morning much as parents do elsewhere. At six a.m., the sun peeking over the sill of the master bedroom, and daughter Heidi and son Alex arguing about the bathroom.

“Just go away Alex, I can’t come out right now,” Heidi sobbed from inside the closed door of the bathroom.

“Sheesh, Heidi, It isn’t like I haven’t seen your body before and you never lock the bathroom door, what the heck is going on with you?” Alex was sixteen, a scant fourteen months older than his sister.

“Go get, Mom, please Alex, please,” Heidi sobbed from inside the bathroom.

Marti was up before Alex knocked on the door to the master bedroom. She waited a second and opened the door to her son rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, Mom,” Alex responded, “Heidi is just acting weird. She’s locked herself in the bathroom.”

“Heidi, it’s Mom,” Marti spoke softly as she knocked on the bathroom door, “May I come in, honey?”

The lock slipped in the door handle and Heidi stood behind the door, leaving just enough room for Marti to squeeze her size 14 body into the bathroom.

At a glance, Marti knew what the problem was. Her daughter’s thighs to the knees were covered in blood and puddles were on the floor as well.

“I went to take my shower, and this happened Mom, today of all days when we have plans to go visiting,” Heidi wailed, “I have cramps, the worst flow I’ve ever had in my life and I can’t stop sobbing.”

Sitting down on the closed lid of the toilet, Marti pulled her daughter to her and gently rubbed the girl’s back. “Would you like to hear a true horror story, honey, while we get you cleaned up? Oh, I see you tried to get a tampon in. What happened, Aunt Flo was too quick to catch?”

Heidi giggled. When she first began her cycle Marti had told Heidi to say, ‘Aunt Flo is coming for a visit’ to not embarrass Alex and her father.

“Yep, she got away from me for sure, Mom,” Heidi smiled. Marti was busy washing off her daughter’s lower extremities with a washcloth that would definitely need pretreatment with hydrogen peroxide before going into the washer.

“Think you can make it to your bedroom?” Marti asked.

“Not sure, but I’ll try,” her daughter responded. Now less messy, she set off on the twelve-foot walk from the bath to her bedroom. She could hear her father and brother downstairs and was relieved to know they were occupied elsewhere.