The Cooper typeface you see there is an accurate recreation. That font was immensely popular the time. So anyway, I would proudly wear this shirt everywhere until one time I encountered a group of older high school kids. I could hear them laughing at me and my weird shirt as they walked behind me. I don't mean to be melodramatic when I point to that moment as one of lost innocence. It's when I realized there was such a thing as cool. Cool doesn't exist in grade school. Nobody's cool--everyone just is. You could get away with wearing a ridiculous shirt like that in the sixth grade. This would no longer be the case now that I was entering middle school. Now when I remember this moment the pain has largely vanished. Well, that's not altogether true--now that I have a daughter, I imagine her experiencing something similar and it almost makes me want to cry. You all think I'm too sensitive?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
DP Confessionals: Shirtique
Do y'all remember this place? Shirtique was an '80s mall phenomenon. There was one in the Sunvalley Mall in Pleasant Hill. I believe it was right next to the Orange Julius. The idea was is that you'd pick a T-Shirt--usually of the 3/4 sleeve baseball variety--and then you'd pick an image and/or lettering to appear on the shirt. The folks at Shirtique would make your shirt to order right in front of you! At the time my mom took me I was in the sixth grade. My interests mirrored mainly that of my older brother's. He was into fantasy novels and Dungeons and Dragons. He had every Conan book available at the time. So when it came time for me to put together my shirt this is what I dreamed up:
The Cooper typeface you see there is an accurate recreation. That font was immensely popular the time. So anyway, I would proudly wear this shirt everywhere until one time I encountered a group of older high school kids. I could hear them laughing at me and my weird shirt as they walked behind me. I don't mean to be melodramatic when I point to that moment as one of lost innocence. It's when I realized there was such a thing as cool. Cool doesn't exist in grade school. Nobody's cool--everyone just is. You could get away with wearing a ridiculous shirt like that in the sixth grade. This would no longer be the case now that I was entering middle school. Now when I remember this moment the pain has largely vanished. Well, that's not altogether true--now that I have a daughter, I imagine her experiencing something similar and it almost makes me want to cry. You all think I'm too sensitive?
The Cooper typeface you see there is an accurate recreation. That font was immensely popular the time. So anyway, I would proudly wear this shirt everywhere until one time I encountered a group of older high school kids. I could hear them laughing at me and my weird shirt as they walked behind me. I don't mean to be melodramatic when I point to that moment as one of lost innocence. It's when I realized there was such a thing as cool. Cool doesn't exist in grade school. Nobody's cool--everyone just is. You could get away with wearing a ridiculous shirt like that in the sixth grade. This would no longer be the case now that I was entering middle school. Now when I remember this moment the pain has largely vanished. Well, that's not altogether true--now that I have a daughter, I imagine her experiencing something similar and it almost makes me want to cry. You all think I'm too sensitive?
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1 comment:
Yes, you are too sensitive! But that's also what makes you the good man that you are -- and to quote Flannery O'Connor, a good man is hard to find.
I think I had the same unicorn decal emblazoned on my T-shirt when I was in elementary school.
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