A BRA STRAP. A PLAIN OLD BROKEN BRA STRAP could be the key to success. Maybe. Hopefully.

Over the years I wrote two full plays, both comedies. Over the years I tweaked the plays to the point where I felt contented and assured enough to send them "out there" to various theatres and competitions. They have yet to be produced but it was always my belief that sombody, somewhere would produce at least one of them.

Over the years I've also written some short-shorts, one of which is entitled, "The Bra." It's based on my personal experience of trying to find - actually there is no real name for it - a plastic piece that attaches to a bra strap, which adjusts the tension of the bra and keeps boobs uplifted. In my play-ette I call it "a thingie."

It was a relatively new bra and this plastic thingie broke. No problem-o I think to myself and return it to point of purchase for a replacement part or perhaps with luck, a new bra. However (the howevers in life are so annoying!) there is a policy that bras can't be returned. Something about the fact that they're worn against the skin...unhegienic or something to that effect. To make matters worse neither they nor any other lingerie store carried the plastic "thingie" I required. Based on my frustrating experience, The Bra was born.

Only once has it been seen in public in a reading of my short-shorts but for some reason or another it has caught the imagination of the public. Wherever I go friends and aquaintances make a point of asking me about "the bra."

"I heard about your play...something to do with a bra..." people will tell me.

So the word is out: my bra is "in."

As an aside I still have "the bra" in question and bring it along as a prop. Even more interesting to me is how everyone wants to examine it. I mean, a bra is a bra is... Mind you, someone recently told me that she experienced the same problem and asked advice as to what she could do. Suddenly I'm a bra advocate!

You just never know what will catch the imagination of people. Imagine - my bra and the thingie of course. In case anybody reading this is interested, I also have a short-short based on my experience trying to get a free tea refill at a well-known fast food chain.