Respect for the Bubba Meise

Once, Rav Chaim visited his elderly cousin. As he walked into the house, a button fell off his coat. His cousin quickly took out a needle and thread and sewed the button back on while Rav Chaim was wearing the coat, which is said to cause a person to forget his Torah.

Rav Chaim then used the known remedy, taking the edge of his collar and putting it in his mouth. His puzzled cousin asked, “Do you really believe in these bubba meises?” Rav Chaim answered that when it comes to anything connected with forgetting Torah, he does not take chances, and he takes even a bubba meise very seriously.