Long ago, when sailing ships ruled the waves, a captain and his crew were in
danger of being boarded by a pirate ship. As the crew became frantic, the captain
bellowed to his First Mate, "Bring me my red shirt!" The First Mate
quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt, which the captain put on and led
the crew to battle the pirate boarding party. Although some casualties occurred
among the crew, the pirates were repelled. Later that day, the lookout screamed
that there were two pirate vessels sending boarding parties. The crew cowered
in fear, but the captain, calm as ever bellowed, "Bring me my red shirt!"
And once again the battle was on, however, the Captain and his crew repelled
both boarding parties,although this time more casualties occurred. Weary from
the battles, the men sat around on deck that night recounting the day's occurrences
when an ensign looked to the Captain and asked, "Sir, why did you call
for your red shirt before the battle?" The Captain, giving the ensign a
look that only a captain can give, exhorted, "If I am wounded in battle,
the red shirt does not show the wound and thus, you men will continue to fight
unafraid." The men sat in silence marveling at the courage of such a man.
As dawn came the next morning, the lookout screamed that there were pirate ships,
10 of them, all with boarding parties on their way. The men became silent and
looked to the Captain, their leader, for his usual command. The Captain, calm
as ever, bellowed, "Bring me my brown pants!"