I pit you, highschool letterman wearer

[Surbey]

ITS BEEN 22 YEARS, GIVE IT UP!

I had a woman get gas yesterday wearing her highschool lettermans jacket. Not uncommon because we have alot of "school spirit" in our town. But, what was peculiar was the wording on the back. "Class of '84". This woman graduated 22 years ago and she still cant give up that school pride.

I hate people like that

[Moirai]

Was she on her way to a school sporting event? If I still had mine and was going to a football game, I might wear it there.

I take it you are assuming she wears it every day?

[Mtgman]

Is she a teacher? Maybe she's wearing it for some sort of school pride event? In any event a letterman jacket at my school was a nice quality jacket and could be used for practical reasons having nothing to do with living in the past. Almost makes me wish I had bothered to get one.

Enjoy,
Steven

[furt]

I take it you are assuming she wears it every day?If she did, it'd be worn out by now.

This woman graduated 22 years ago and she still cant give up that school pride.

I hate people like thatAt what point is one supposed to stop having school pride?

[Stonebow]

A someone that grew up in a city, and have since moved to a fairly small town...I feel for you. Some folks just don't know when to let go- I've been involved in conversations that centered around a particular football play made 15 years ago at a junior high school game.

Just remember- it's all about tribalism. The jacket is her way of saying "I belong here."

[Amazon Floozy Goddess]

Hell, those jackets are expensive. May as well get all the wear you can out of them. My highschool jacket is wool and nylon with leather sleeves, and cost me $500 and 6 months of saving up to get it. Plus it's really warm in the winter. It's been 7 years since I graduated HS. What's the problem with still wearing the jacket if it's practical?

[Hampshire]

Haven't you heard?

Vintage is "in" right now.

[Stonebow]

Haven't you heard?

Vintage is "in" right now.

And if the jacket was being worn by a younger person, it might be considered vintage. If it's being worn by the original owner, it's just...old.

[Guinastasia]

Hell, what about school rings? Am I still allowed to wear my high school ring that was the first expensive item I ever bought myself?

[hajario]

Hell, what about school rings? Am I still allowed to wear my high school ring that was the first expensive item I ever bought myself?

Sure you're allowed to. It's your finger, knock yourself out. That doesn't make it any less lame.

[Scumpup]

Here in the glorious Beaver Valley (go ahead and snicker) it is very common to see fat-ass ex-jocks cramming themselves into their letter jackets 20 or more years following graduation. Ditto on ex-cheerleaders. Same-same for ex-band geeks. School pride, in the context of sports, is a strong part of personal identity for the natives here. This area is going into its third decade of hard times, so for many of the natives, school pride at sporting events is one of too few postive memories. They want to cling to it. Many of them are also the children of people who went to the same school and played for the same team, so it has a family tradition aspect to it as well.
All that aside, an overweight 40+ guy stuffed into a HS letter jacket he can't even button over his gut just looks ridiculous.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Surbey, did you ever consider that this woman might be stuck in a terrible marriage, have a dead-end job, health problems, no friends, or an utterly thankless family? Or several of these problems?

High school might have been the last golden moment she has had in her life, or ever will.

A little compassion, for a woman who has nothing left but memories?

[Martin Hyde]

I woe my HS letterman jacket for probably 5 years after I graduated whenever the need arose. It was a nice wool jacket and personally I saw no reason to not wear it.

My mom bought me a nicer wool jacket for Christmas one year and after that I never wore the varsity jacket again. I wasn't particularly attached to the jacket or my high school, but nor did I feel any reason to stop wearing a perfectly good jacket.

I wear Army sports stuff all the time though, like half the t-shirts that I wear when I'm laying around the house have GO ARMY, or BEAT NAVY on them. And anytime I make it up to West Point for a sporting event I have an Army sports jacket I wear.

[Plynck]

I hate people like thatI hate people who can still fit into the clothing they wore twenty two years ago. Who can blame her for wanting to flaunt it?

[hajario]

Good point, Bosda. Maybe she was going to a costume party. Maybe she was an actress who got a part in a movie playing an idiot and she was getting into character. Maybe her children were being held hostage and she had the ransom money and the kidnappers told her to identify herself by dressing as lamely as possible and she normally had great fashion sense so the only lame thing in her closet was a twenty year old jacket that she kept for sentimental reasons.

Or maybe you're just a tool.

[Troy McClure SF]

At what point is one supposed to stop having school pride?
Two weeks after the first day of freshamn year. :D

[Guinastasia]

Sure you're allowed to. It's your finger, knock yourself out. That doesn't make it any less lame.

How is it "lame" to wear a very pretty, expensive ring that just happens to be from high school?

[alice_in_wonderland]

How is it "lame" to wear a very pretty, expensive ring that just happens to be from high school?

I still have my very pretty, expensive prom dress that I wore in highschool. I'm not going to be wearing it any time soon either. Why? Because I would look like a tool.

[JohnBckWLD]

You "Hate people like that"?

Like what, exactly?
Someone who was a popular cheerleader or athelete in high?
Someone who might of grabbed their son's or daughter's jacket from the coat closet school because they just running out for a 1/2 gallon of milk?
Someone who unintentionally reminded you of 4 years you'd wish you could just forget?Let it go. Save your hate for stuff that really matters, like why no one would check MTV2 and report back.

[Scumpup]

Good point, Bosda. Maybe she was going to a costume party. Maybe she was an actress who got a part in a movie playing an idiot and she was getting into character. Maybe her children were being held hostage and she had the ransom money and the kidnappers told her to identify herself by dressing as lamely as possible and she normally had great fashion sense so the only lame thing in her closet was a twenty year old jacket that she kept for sentimental reasons.

Or maybe you're just a tool.

If he's a tool, you're a power tool.

[Roland Orzabal]

How is it "lame" to wear a very pretty, expensive ring that just happens to be from high school?It is because certain people think it is, and lameness, like most of your popular pejoratives, is subjective. You can pay attention to people's standards or you can ignore them. If you ignore it, you run the risk being judged on it by the sort of people who judge other people based on shit like this.* It's a chance I personally am willing to take.I still have my very pretty, expensive prom dress that I wore in highschool. I'm not going to be wearing it any time soon either. Why? Because I would look like a tool.Whatever floats your boat. I still have the suit/tux thing I wore to my senior prom, and I wear it whenever I have an excuse to rock formalwear. That suit kicks fucking ass.

*Kind of makes you wonder which of us is really stuck in high school mode...

[Scumpup]

I still have my very pretty, expensive prom dress that I wore in highschool. I'm not going to be wearing it any time soon either. Why? Because I would look like a tool.

Which would make it different from not wearing it?

[Maeglin]

How is it "lame" to wear a very pretty, expensive ring that just happens to be from high school?

Perhaps the root of the problem is that you think anything made by Jostens is actually pretty.

[lieu]

My wife will wear one of my old jackets every once in awhile. I guess it's just a way of saying had she known me back then we probably would have gone steady. It's really nothing more than an innocent indulgance and maybe some are reading far too much into the act.

Me, I've never "hated" anyone for something they wore... except for maybe a white sheet. Can't rightly see how this comes anywhere close.

[alice_in_wonderland]

Which would make it different from not wearing it?

Oooo, burn, baby, burn.

Listen, you continue to wear your highschool duds, with your uber stylish mullet, acid wash jeans, and Ratt t-shirt, and I'll wear stuff that I bought in this decade.

There, now we can both be happy.

[Ludovic]

You are not afraid to fill up your tank in the same frayed jacket you wore 20 years ago. We salute you, Mrs. Highschool Letterman Wearer!

% Mrs. Highschool Letterman Wearer %

[Guinastasia]

Perhaps the root of the problem is that you think anything made by Jostens is actually pretty.


Touche. Honestly, I just happen to like my ring.

Sometimes I'll wear my mother's class ring because I like it. A cousin of mine wears his grandfather's classring.

[The King of Soup]

I still have my very pretty, expensive prom dress that I wore in highschool. I'm not going to be wearing it any time soon either. Why? Because I would look like a tool.
That's a shame, Mrs. Havisham: I bet you were the prettiest tool at your prom.

Surbey, one of the perks of actually getting past (not the same as merely graduating) high school is the ability to put on clothing without worry as to whether the local empty-headed snobs will give you a bad review on a pseudonymous internet message board (another benefit is no longer being one of said empty-headed snobs). Or, just maybe, she was one of the ones whom her high school is proud of, and she returns the sentiment because she views her life as a seamless whole and isn't running away from a four-year chunk of it because of some irrational, festering sense of shame. Or maybe the jacket is her son's, and she's twenty years younger than she looks, which is better than any of us are doing, and therefore she can wear whatever she wants.

In my experience, it isn't the people who remember or even sentimentalize their youthful accomplishments who are unachieving adults; it's the ones who give up and turn their backs on them, pickling their memories in a brine of embarrassment and cynicism and thinking that that equals maturity. It doesn't, any more than idealizing one's younger days confers eternal youth.

Remember your youth. Remember your uninformed ideals, your green talents, your innocently-chosen friends, your callow triumphs, your unripened dreams, your surprise and indignation that you could not actually fly. Let your past be a closet and not a tomb. It's the only thing that will allow you to remain fully human as an adult.

[cowgirl]

I worked for three years (literally) to get one of the cool jackets that the rugby team wore. We started the first women's rugby team at our school, and had to put up with endless shit from the men's team about how women don't play rugby and what we were doing didn't count. They actually CANCELLED our order for cool rugby jackets without telling us because we didn't "deserve" them.

In my graduating year (after six seasons of playing every game and attending every practice) I finally got it. I wore it for a year. It remains the coolest jacket, ever (it is not a letter jacket, it's a totally different style) but I still couldn't bring myself to wear it after high school because it would have been lame.

Maybe now it's retro again and I can wear it. Hm.

[Scumpup]

Oooo, burn, baby, burn.

Listen, you continue to wear your highschool duds, with your uber stylish mullet, acid wash jeans, and Ratt t-shirt, and I'll wear stuff that I bought in this decade.

There, now we can both be happy.

That would have been funny if you had said

Listen, you continue to wear your highschool duds, with your short hair, khakis, and polo shirt and I'll wear stuff that I bought in this decade.

Because that is what I wore when I was in high school in the 70's; change that short hair to shaved head and it would still be accurate today. Never had a mulett, never wore acid wash jeans, and never heard of Ratt.

[Slacker]

Good point, Bosda. Maybe she was going to a costume party. Maybe she was an actress who got a part in a movie playing an idiot and she was getting into character. Maybe her children were being held hostage and she had the ransom money and the kidnappers told her to identify herself by dressing as lamely as possible and she normally had great fashion sense so the only lame thing in her closet was a twenty year old jacket that she kept for sentimental reasons.

Or maybe you're just a tool.
LOL! I was about to post the same thing.

Do we have to envision every damn scenario possible before we can pit someone these days?

[alice_in_wonderland]

Let your past be a closet and not a tomb. It's the only thing that will allow you to remain fully human as an adult.

Wow, that was really deep. By the way, you look great in those MC Hammer pants. Really great.

[Miller]

At what point is one supposed to stop having school pride?

Ideally, some time shortly before you enroll.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

LOL! I was about to post the same thing.

Do we have to envision every damn scenario possible before we can pit someone these days?

I'm often accused of being bitter, yet the reaction of many posters here to a woman wearing a coat, and to my sense of kindness, baffles me. :confused:

[Hampshire]

That would have been funny if you had said



Because that is what I wore when I was in high school in the 70's; change that short hair to shaved head and it would still be accurate today. Never had a mulett, never wore acid wash jeans, and never heard of Ratt.

Pink polo shirts with the collars up don't count.

[Ethilrist]

I'm often accused of being bitter, yet the reaction of many posters here to a woman wearing a coat, and to my sense of kindness, baffles me. :confused:
... you weren't intending to be sarcastic? :dubious:

[Plynck]

Me, I've never "hated" anyone for something they wore... except for maybe a white sheet.Bad memories of a toga party?

[hajario]

Remember your youth. Remember your uninformed ideals, your green talents, your innocently-chosen friends, your callow triumphs, your unripened dreams, your surprise and indignation that you could not actually fly. Let your past be a closet and not a tomb. It's the only thing that will allow you to remain fully human as an adult.

Ah, High School. Avoiding certain parts of campus (like all of the bathrooms) so that you wouldn't get your ass kicked for walking in on a drug deal. Two armed guards patrolling the campus at all times. Talking your way out of extortion attempts from gang members. Those were the days allright. Dude, it was all about surviving that shit hole until I could get out.

By the way, I've pretty much worn t-shirts and 501s since I was a kid. How lame is that?

Guin, wearing your mothers high school class ring is cool. You're welcome.

[Ludovic]

Remember your youth. Remember your uninformed ideals, your green talents, your innocently-chosen friends, your callow triumphs, your unripened dreams, your surprise and indignation that you could not actually fly. Let your past be a closet and not a tomb. It's the only thing that will allow you to remain fully human as an adult.But trust me on the sunscreen.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

... you weren't intending to be sarcastic? :dubious:

No.

Nowhere in this Thread was I attempting to be sarcastic.

[Scumpup]

Ah, High School. Avoiding certain parts of campus (like all of the bathrooms) so that you wouldn't get your ass kicked for walking in on a drug deal. Two armed guards patrolling the campus at all times. Talking your way out of extortion attempts from gang members. Those were the days allright. Dude, it was all about surviving that shit hole until I could get out.


So, because you went to a shitty school, the woman described in the OP s wrong for wearing an old letterjacket? Fuck me. Everything is about you.

[hajario]

So, because you went to a shitty school, the woman described in the OP s wrong for wearing an old letterjacket? Fuck me. Everything is about you.

One has nothing to do with the other. I was responding to King of Soup's contention that we should look back fondly on our past. Wearing your old high school shit is lame for totally different reasons. That doesn't make it wrong, for christ's sake. Do try to keep up.

I used to wear tie dye shirts and Guatemalen pants at Grateful Dead shows in the 80's. Now that was lame. People made fun of me all the time for it and I didn't get all worked up about it. The thing is that I'm still not wearing that stuff fifteen years later. It was a phase.

Get it?

[The King of Soup]

Wow, that was really deep. By the way, you look great in those MC Hammer pants. Really great.
Thanks, but they're actually blue jeans. The comment you quoted was, by the way, not aimed at you. If ever there was a textbook case of someone who hadn't managed yet to let go of high school, it's someone who keeps her prom dress hidden away but ridicules someone who occasionally wears a class ring.

Unfortunately, you're holding tight to the bitter insecure part, rather than the open-minded, unafraid part. With luck, you'll be able to recover the worthwhile part and purge the crud. This is a good place to begin to do it: nobody here knows what you looked/look like or how nice you really were/are. You can pretend to virtues you're still working on, and get nothing but praise for your efforts. Good luck, I wish you the best, if you concentrate on yourself and your own needs, forsaking the obligation to judge others, I know you can be happier.

hajario, no doubt the high school experience, separated by great swaths of distance and time, ranges from idyllic to hellish. Yours was apparently not only much worse than mine, but worse than I had believed possible. I'm sorry. My own children will have much worse memories of this portion of their lives than I am blessed with, and that knowledge tortures me. But I was asking people to preserve parts of themselves, not the institutions of their upbringing. A brutal and repressive school is not one you will celebrate by wearing its symbol on a jacket, but neither, I hope, will you cauterize all the nerve endings connecting you to everyone and everything that contributed to the thoughtful person you have become. Celebrate the boundless curiosity and uninhibited creativity and unlimited generosity that is the gift youth gives to the world. No one will ever say thank you; the only reward is that humanity gets to go on a while longer.

[Maeglin]

So, because you went to a shitty school, the woman described in the OP s wrong for wearing an old letterjacket? Fuck me. Everything is about you.

No. Because he went to a shitty school, King of Soup should spare him the fucking melodrama. Could this have possibly been clearer?

[Ogre]

I hate to see 20-year-old letterman jackets and old class rings because it indicates a sort of voluntary stunting of the person's growth and development. I recently ran into a guy from high school. He was a football player, very popular with the girl, and he was a complete jerkoff. When I ran into him, he was wearing his old football jacket from 1990. He was going bald, going flabby, and he was still every inch the complete asshole he was 16 years ago. I quickly terminated the conversation and continued shopping.

Grow. Develop. It's OK. It's natural.

[Cagey Drifter]

This woman graduated 22 years ago and she still cant give up that school pride.

I hate people like that

Not to read you too literally, but is this really a compelling reason to hate someone? Many respectable members of society-- like Hank Hill, for example-- look back fondly on high school.

[Scumpup]

No. Because he went to a shitty school, King of Soup should spare him the fucking melodrama. Could this have possibly been clearer?

The King of Soup's melodrama is no more connected to hajario's HS experience than the woman in the letter jacket. Let me try to be clearer: hajario's HS experience is his problem only, if he wants to make it one. The King of Soup's melodrama doesn't enter into it. Hajario will just have to savor the bad memories he apparently stores up like treasure on his own.

[Xploder]

Bad memories of a toga party?

Someone actually still has memories after a toga party? You must have been doing it wrong.

[Excalibre]

Two weeks after the first day of freshamn year. :D
Absolutely. Why are we pretending that pride in your high school is a positive quality?



Touche. Honestly, I just happen to like my ring.

Sometimes I'll wear my mother's class ring because I like it. A cousin of mine wears his grandfather's classring.
The part I didn't understand in high school and don't understand now is why the hell people bought those things in the first place. And it must be acknowledged that most class rings - I wouldn't know whether yours falls into this category or not - are hideous. At my high school at least, the tradition of exchanging class rings and such didn't seem to exist anymore, so I can't understand why anyone would have purchased one.



Surbey, one of the perks of actually getting past (not the same as merely graduating) high school is the ability to put on clothing without worry as to whether the local empty-headed snobs will give you a bad review on a pseudonymous internet message board (another benefit is no longer being one of said empty-headed snobs). Or, just maybe, she was one of the ones whom her high school is proud of, and she returns the sentiment because she views her life as a seamless whole and isn't running away from a four-year chunk of it because of some irrational, festering sense of shame. Or maybe the jacket is her son's, and she's twenty years younger than she looks, which is better than any of us are doing, and therefore she can wear whatever she wants.
I certainly don't feel any irrational, festering sense of shame related to high school. I enjoyed high school. It was fun. That doesn't mean I dress in an article of clothing specifically designed to suggest that I'm in high school. Perhaps I'm an "empty-headed snob" for not pretending that the way people choose to dress and the messages they deliberately try to express with their clothing don't exist at all. Or maybe you're one of those people who never quite fit in with the "popular crowd" in high school and so you defensively resorted to the position that everyone who was capable of interacting normally with others was an empty-headed snob. Which subculture did you pick to feel better about not being popular?

Either way, dressing like you're still in high school long after graduating makes you look like a tool.



Remember your youth. Remember your uninformed ideals, your green talents, your innocently-chosen friends, your callow triumphs, your unripened dreams, your surprise and indignation that you could not actually fly. Let your past be a closet and not a tomb. It's the only thing that will allow you to remain fully human as an adult.
Uh, yeah. Also, remember writing silly, overly poetic purple prose. I did that when I was in high school too. :)

[hajario]

Hajario will just have to savor the bad memories he apparently stores up like treasure on his own.

Where do you get that? I rarely think about those days. I responded to a suggestion and explained why it didn't apply to me. I even quoted the relevant portion. You're a slow one.

[Amazon Floozy Goddess]

Wow, that was really deep. By the way, you look great in those MC Hammer pants. Really great.

I used to have purple MC Hammer pants that had skateboarding lizards printed all over them. If I still had them, I'd wear them just to offend people. :D

[alice_in_wonderland]

Unfortunately, you're holding tight to the bitter insecure part, rather than the open-minded, unafraid part.

Oh is that what my problem is? See, I thought it was that I think people that insist on clinging to their memories of high school 20 years after it happened are pathetic and sad. It's like people that are 35 years old, and brag about their SAT scores. Gosh, absolutely NOTHING has happened in the last 20 years for you to be proud of, so you spout your SAT scores to make yourself feel better. Got it.

With luck, you'll be able to recover the worthwhile part and purge the crud. .

And with luck you'll be able to get over the melodramatic, over-the-top smarm-fest, and actually communicate like a real person, instead of a caricature of Dr. Phil.

[Stonebow]

I hate to see 20-year-old letterman jackets and old class rings because it indicates a sort of voluntary stunting of the person's growth and development. I recently ran into a guy from high school. He was a football player, very popular with the girl, and he was a complete jerkoff. When I ran into him, he was wearing his old football jacket from 1990. He was going bald, going flabby, and he was still every inch the complete asshole he was 16 years ago. I quickly terminated the conversation and continued shopping.

Grow. Develop. It's OK. It's natural.

Bingo. This is really my only gripe with this sort of behavior. Admittedly, the woman's circumstances might mitigate it, but I've seen this attitude and behaviors entirely too much in the area where I now live. For many folks here, High School was the high point of their lives...and that's incredibly sad. Advertising it to the world is lame.

[Excalibre]

Oh is that what my problem is? See, I thought it was that I think people that insist on clinging to their memories of high school 20 years after it happened are pathetic and sad. It's like people that are 35 years old, and brag about their SAT scores. Gosh, absolutely NOTHING has happened in the last 20 years for you to be proud of, so you spout your SAT scores to make yourself feel better. Got it.



And with luck you'll be able to get over the melodramatic, over-the-top smarm-fest, and actually communicate like a real person, instead of a caricature of Dr. Phil.
Now, now, now. It sounds like someone isn't remembering her callow triumphs and unripened dreams!

[hajario]

Bingo. This is really my only gripe with this sort of behavior. Admittedly, the woman's circumstances might mitigate it, but I've seen this attitude and behaviors entirely too much in the area where I now live. For many folks here, High School was the high point of their lives...and that's incredibly sad. Advertising it to the world is lame.

Bingo X2. That's all it is. Can't we have the opinion that a jacket is lame without the psychoanalysis?

[alice_in_wonderland]

I used to have purple MC Hammer pants that had skateboarding lizards printed all over them. If I still had them, I'd wear them just to offend people. :D


I used to have a fluorescent pink and fluorescent green striped bat-wing shirt, with a wide black band around my hips, one slouching shoulder, and a matching mesh tank and leggings. If I still had that outfit, I would wear it for just the same reason.

[Uvula Donor]

ITS BEEN 22 YEARS, GIVE IT UP!

I had a woman get gas yesterday wearing her highschool lettermans jacket. Not uncommon because we have alot of "school spirit" in our town. But, what was peculiar was the wording on the back. "Class of '84". This woman graduated 22 years ago and she still cant give up that school pride.

I hate people like that

Shut the fuck up and give me twenty bucks of regular on pump 5, gasjockey.

[Mtgman]

So what if they grow up into someone secure enough to wear whatever the hell they feel like wearing, for whatever or no reason at all, and not giving a shit about what the person at the gas station or a bunch of yahoos on the internet think? Is that ok?

Keeeriiist people. It isn't like the OP interviewed the person and they said "OMG! My letter jacket means the world to me!! I'd, like, die if I couldn't wear it as a reminder of when Todd Footballer asked me to suck his cock in the balcony of the auditorium." Why is it the only assumption it is safe to make about this woman is that she's stuck in a high-school frame of mind?

Enjoy,
Steven

[Excalibre]

So what if they grow up into someone secure enough to wear whatever the hell they feel like wearing, for whatever or no reason at all, and not giving a shit about what the person at the gas station or a bunch of yahoos on the internet think? Is that ok?

Keeeriiist people. It isn't like the OP interviewed the person and they said "OMG! My letter jacket means the world to me!! I'd, like, die if I couldn't wear it as a reminder of when Todd Footballer asked me to suck his cock in the balcony of the auditorium." Why is it the only assumption it is safe to make about this woman is that she's stuck in a high-school frame of mind?

Enjoy,
Steven
Once again, for the slower-paced: your clothes say things about you. If you don't care what you're communicating by how you're dressed, don't worry about it. That doesn't mean the rest of us are also obligated to ignore it. You may join Bosda in trying to come up with conceivable circumstances in which wearing your letter jacket 22 years later isn't lame if you wish.

[The King of Soup]

I used to have a fluorescent pink and fluorescent green striped bat-wing shirt, with a wide black band around my hips, one slouching shoulder, and a matching mesh tank and leggings. If I still had that outfit, I would wear it for just the same reason.
Surely you're not relying on what you wear to offend people, any more than you can rely on what you say to persuade them. Still, I hope your self-esteem depends less on deprecation of what other people wear than you unintentionally profess. Good luck.

Excalibre (was the username Excalibur already taken?), I had you pegged for someone who didn't judge much by appearances, and I think my first impression was right. Surely you don't conclude from the wearing of an old jacket one morning in the month of February that someone is clinging to an expired memory in a way offensive to you, do you? If my purple prose (it sure is, isn't it?) irritates you, let us just fall back on this bit of pragmatism: complaining about how other people, whom you do not know, dress is a futile bit of snobbery, couched in uninformed assumptions about the reasons for choosing a random morning's wardrobe. It won't change the way they dress, and it won't improve your standing among the elite, assuming they're paying as close attention to you as they should. Actually, the overheated texts you produced in your youth might be worth another look, especially if they were informed by a more modest outlook.

[Excalibre]

Excalibre (was the username Excalibur already taken?),
Not to my knowledge. Why do you ask?


I had you pegged for someone who didn't judge much by appearances, and I think my first impression was right.
That would be correct. I don't care much about how people dress. That doesn't mean, however, that I am obligated to ignore clothing that ostentatiously sends a message.

When you get a little older, you may begin to understand that dividing people up into categories like "those who judge based on appearances" and "those who don't judge based on appearances" is rather ineffective. I'm certainly no fashion plate and I don't particularly care to be. I don't spend a lot of time or thought on clothing. But I'm perfectly capable of making a judgment about what someone is communicating with their outfit. It's certainly the case that the woman in question might have been in some circumstance that required her to wear the jacket, and thus she is not deliberately communicating what she appears to be. Fortunately for her, she's not likely to get hurt just cause people on a message board make fun of how she's dressed.


If my purple prose (it sure is, isn't it?) irritates you, let us just fall back on this bit of pragmatism: complaining about how other people, whom you do not know, dress is a futile bit of snobbery, couched in uninformed assumptions about the reasons for choosing a random morning's wardrobe. It won't change the way they dress, and it won't improve your standing among the elite, assuming they're paying as close attention to you as they should. Actually, the overheated texts you produced in your youth might be worth another look, especially if they were informed by a more modest outlook.
You're a bit smug, aren't you? Are you like this in real life, or only on the internet?

As you (and Bosda before you) pointed out, it's possible there is some other, mysterious reason unknown to us that she dressed that way. You are welcome to join him and Mtgman in cooking up other reasons why she might have dressed that way beyond the obvious one. I doubt you'll succeed, though, as you've shown yourself a remarkably poor judge of character in regards to your judgments of me at least.

[alice_in_wonderland]

Surely you're not relying on what you wear to offend people, any more than you can rely on what you say to persuade them. Still, I hope your self-esteem depends less on deprecation of what other people wear than you unintentionally profess. Good luck.

Oh! You’ve cut me to the quick. I’m just going to go over in the corner here and sob into the layers of crinoline and tulle that make up my still owned prom dress. <sob>

Actually, I'm fine. My self-esteem doesn't depend on the deprecation of what other people wear, and more on the deprecation of what other people post. You're making me feel like a million bucks. Cheers!

[Stonebow]

Why is it the only assumption it is safe to make about this woman is that she's stuck in a high-school frame of mind?


For me, as I've explained, it's because it is the reason I have observed in people that engage in this behavior. These are not strangers, but people that I am familiar with, so I don't have to look for some arcane reason why they do it. I'll assume that everyone else sniping at her has similar reasoning.

[Mtgman]

Once again, for the slower-paced: your clothes say things about you. If you don't care what you're communicating by how you're dressed, don't worry about it. That doesn't mean the rest of us are also obligated to ignore it. You may join Bosda in trying to come up with conceivable circumstances in which wearing your letter jacket 22 years later isn't lame if you wish.
True enough, but like everything else, jumping to conclusions about a person based on incomplete information, like a casual wardrobe choice, reflects more poorly on the observer than the observed.

Your clothes say something about you. Your reactions to other's clothes say much, much more.

Enjoy,
Steven

[alice_in_wonderland]

Your clothes say something about you. Your reactions to other's clothes say much, much more.

Nice try. If I notice someone dressed like a throwback to 1986 and think to myself, "Huh, how odd" and carry on with my day, what does that say about me, exactly?

[lieu]

Wolverines!

[Excalibre]

Nice try. If I notice someone dressed like a throwback to 1986 and think to myself, "Huh, how odd" and carry on with my day, what does that say about me, exactly?
It means you've forgotten your uninformed ideals, your green talents, and your innocently-chosen friends.

[Ogre]

Wolverines!Great. Now I have an image of lieu looking just like Patrick Swayze with big hair.

[alice_in_wonderland]

It means you've forgotten your uninformed ideals, your green talents, and your innocently-chosen friends.

Oh right. Lucky that.

[Ogre]

Shut the fuck up and give me twenty bucks of regular on pump 5, gasjockey.Yeah, this is pretty much exactly the attitude displayed by the guy I ran into from high school. Still a worthless tool, and still wallowing in it.

[alice_in_wonderland]

Great. Now I have an image of lieu looking just like Patrick Swayze with big hair.

What do you mean "Now"?

[The King of Soup]

Not to my knowledge. Why do you ask?

Because I had previously seen the name Excalibur, referring to King Arthur's sword from Malory's Morte' d' Arthur, and many subsequent sources, including Tennyson, but not Excalibre, which I didn't recognize, and I thought I might learn something from the new derivation. If you're not too mad at me, I'd still like to: what's the story behind your spelling?

I don't care much about how people dress. That doesn't mean, however, that I am obligated to ignore clothing that ostentatiously sends a message.
Which of these sentences am I meant to believe?

When you get a little older, you may begin to understand that dividing people up into categories like "those who judge based on appearances" and "those who don't judge based on appearances" is rather ineffective.
It's effective in separating people who judge based on appearance from those who don't. Besides, long before you reach full maturity, you stop dividing people up into categories based on appearances period. From the onset of adulthood, whenever it finally occurs, wardrobe is the province of club bouncers, Joan Rivers, and nobody else that matters.

I don't spend a lot of time or thought on clothing. But I'm perfectly capable of making a judgment about what someone is communicating with their outfit.
I often make judgments like this, and sometimes my young children have to remind me how silly I'm being.

It's certainly the case that the woman in question might have been in some circumstance that required her to wear the jacket ...
And thus is forgiveness born. Let charity rule this day.

You're a bit smug, aren't you? Are you like this in real life, or only on the internet?
Smug? Moi? Oh, I suppose, but I'm taking the side of a middle-aged woman to wear an old jacket without ridicule. You would too, most days. There's little enough of it going around.

... you've shown yourself a remarkably poor judge of character in regards to your judgments of me at least.
I retain my good opinion of you. We can disagree without descending into enmity. Please accept my best regards and wishes, even if we must disagree.

[faithfool]

Adding another pointless entry into the must have 'Every Scenario Covered' anecdotal race. Just some bullshit observations....


I shop(ped) at thrift stores and for vintage stuff on eBay. I'm a latter day Molly Ringwald. :) I love that shit. So, when as a kid, I found a cheapie letter jacket like those I saw on Happy Days I snagged it up. Our school didn't have those and it was so nice, neat and warm. I don't know what happened to it, but I wish I still had it. Sadly for me, I can't afford any of the ones I find now.
I understand feeling bad about those who've never lived past their glory days. However, I usually reserve my pity for people I actually know, that I can verify (for lack of a better word) haven't moved on. Usually it has more to do with actions then appearance, in my experience. Because those folks might not have had any fashion sense twenty years ago and, a la' Napoleon Dynamite, are just now catching up. Certainly, my former town would be guilty of this.
I think I still have my prom dress(es) around somewhere. Hell, those things were way too expensive to toss and I might be able to recoup big bucks like those now selling Gunne Sax.
I quit wearing my high school ring after I graduated. Of course, mine was dog ugly and had symbols that I'd no longer associate with myself (IE: a cross), but I'd never begrudge anyone else for wearing theirs. Especially (as if it mattered) if it had sentimental value or you like all things retro. Like rockabilly.
I was middle-of-the-road in my teenage. Got along with everyone, as far as I could tell, and had even a couple of quasi-popular friends. However, that didn't seem very important then or now. Being pretty much a loner fits me.
Hippie-ism is my style of choice. And I now remember in the early days of talk shows, I'd see makeovers of women stuck in the 70s. Man, oh man, how I wish I'd had the wardrobes they'd thrown away. Only too, to make someone else happy in clothes they often didn't feel comfortable in and were probably dated, if not immediately, shortly before they'd update (or be able to afford) something else.
As to now, some of my things fall into the "do" category and some don't. Mostly, I don't need, or want to, spend my hard earned cash on what looks kinda like perishables. But, as with all of the above, everyone's mileage obviously various.


Lastly, and I mean absolutely NO rancor in this (as I don't have much dealings with teenagers), but does anyone older (say past, um, 25) use the word "tool"? I've only seen it on here and never heard an adult say it in real life, unless they worked/had adolescents.

Thank you for listening to this un-interesting, futile post. Please feel free to ignore/laugh at or attack for any lameness. I don't mind at all.

[Excalibre]

Because I had previously seen the name Excalibur, referring to King Arthur's sword from Malory's Morte' d' Arthur, and many subsequent sources, including Tennyson, but not Excalibre, which I didn't recognize, and I thought I might learn something from the new derivation. If you're not too mad at me, I'd still like to: what's the story behind your spelling?
A long time ago, I needed a free email address. I chose this spelling - which I've seen somewhere, though I long ago forgot where - because I figured it was unlikely to be taken. The odd spelling has meant that I've been able to keep it as my name on any number of different websites over the years.


Which of these sentences am I meant to believe?
Your next stage of growth is understanding that the world is not composed of absolutes.


It's effective in separating people who judge based on appearance from those who don't.
Only if you believe that those are two absolutes, and nothing in between.


Besides, long before you reach full maturity, you stop dividing people up into categories based on appearances period. From the onset of adulthood, whenever it finally occurs, wardrobe is the province of club bouncers, Joan Rivers, and nobody else that matters.
I sense a bit of defensiveness about this. You can be uninterested in fashion without condemning those who are interested. Like I said, I don't care much about such things, but I don't consider myself inherently superior to people who do care about clothes. In this case, though, it's not really about clothes per se but about what someone is expressing with a very odd fashion choice.


I often make judgments like this, and sometimes my young children have to remind me how silly I'm being.
I am fortunate that I don't have to resort to asking little children for advice.


And thus is forgiveness born. Let charity rule this day.
Assuming something that is at best unlikely may be charitable, but it's also foolish.


Smug? Moi? Oh, I suppose, but I'm taking the side of a middle-aged woman to wear an old jacket without ridicule. You would too, most days. There's little enough of it going around.
Yep, you're a bit smug. I'll charitably assume you're just very confident, and not as arrogant as you're acting.

[Mtgman]

Nice try. If I notice someone dressed like a throwback to 1986 and think to myself, "Huh, how odd" and carry on with my day, what does that say about me, exactly?
Nothing. If, however, you start a pit thread saying you "hate" this person, with this garment choice being the only thing you know about them, then it says a bit more. Some theorizing about the way she feels about her high school experience or the kind of person she was/is says a bit more.

Enjoy,
Steven

[alice_in_wonderland]

Nothing. If, however, you start a pit thread saying you "hate" this person, with this garment choice being the only thing you know about them, then it says a bit more. Some theorizing about the way she feels about her high school experience or the kind of person she was/is says a bit more.

Enjoy,
Steven

While I agree that "hating" someone for a coat is bizarre, what exactly does theorizing say about a person?

When bosda theorizes that

this woman might be stuck in a terrible marriage, have a dead-end job, health problems, no friends, or an utterly thankless family? Or several of these problems?

what does that say about him? That he's imaginative?

[Wolfian]

I've started and deleted a few posts on this topic, but they all boil down to this: shut the fuck up and grow the fuck up. This is so dumb, former misfits hating on former jocks for clinging to the past. What the fuck do you think you're doing now, Poindexter? Helloooooo, McFly?! It is makes you feel better, point and laugh at the retard and go on about your life. Don't hate. Definately don't post a weaksauce pit thread. Laugh and move.

Of course if laughing makes you feel better your still on the same station as the jock and you're just as retarded, but hey, at least you have your WoW friends. Leeroooooooooy nnnJenkiiiiiinnnnns!!!11!


And before anyone asks: Yes, I have two varisty letters, but one was for band and I wasn't a "jock" by any stretch of the imagination. No, I don't have a varisty jacket. Yes, I have a class ring, but I stopped wearing it around winter of senior year of college. Yes, I have a high school sweatshirt and yes I occassionally wear it along with my college and grad school stuff. Oh, and I'm 22. Not sure if I'll still wear any of it twenty years from now except for on weekends and special occassions (going to a game), but who knows.

Wolverines!
Avenge me, boy! Avenge me!

[Cat Whisperer]

Hey, I graduated high school in 1984, too! I never got a letter jacket, but I did letter in academics - I still have that around here somewhere. I should buy a jacket and sew it on. Maybe a nice, grey trenchcoat. Or sew it on my parka, and just move it from jacket to jacket as they wear out.

I can only speak for myself, but once you're old enough to be out of high school for 22 years, you really don't care much what anonymous people on message boards think of what you do. Hell, you don't care much what people talking to you in real life think of what you do. "I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled."

[Guinastasia]

My sister still wears some of her stuff from high school-including her prom dress. It's a nice, stylish evening gown and she's used it for a few formal occassions in college.

What good is buying something you'll only wear once or twice, I'll never know.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

Regarding class rings, are you close enough to the person to read their ring? So you know it's a high school ring and not something else? Because they also similar rings to commemorate college, graduate school, honor societies, military service, etc.

I happen to like that style of ring, and if I had a hand-me-down of a ring one of my grandparents wore, I'd sure as hell wear it. I just bought myself a sweet ring to commemorate my Army service.

So, is a class ring more or less lame than a tattoo? Just wondering.

[Excalibre]

So, is a class ring more or less lame than a tattoo? Just wondering.
Is it a white person with a tattoo containing any sort of tribal motif or Chinese characters (http://www.hanzismatter.com/)? Because that's lamer than a class ring.

[The King of Soup]

A long time ago, I needed a free email address. I chose this spelling - which I've seen somewhere, though I long ago forgot where - because I figured it was unlikely to be taken.
Good call. EcksKalliper was even less likely, though, and nobody can remember where they've seen that, either. Maybe Nekkst Ttheimme.

Your next stage of growth is understanding that the world is not composed of absolutes.
Sure. First, though, I need to get a handle on people who claim/Klame/QhLayMe to not care about appearances but still be sensitive to the "messages" sent by folks who dress in a certain way. I'm certain it has something to do with some stage of evolution, yet to be attained by me, that purports to be uninterested in fashion but is highly attuned to what strangers express through an odd fashion choice.

You can be uninterested in fashion without condemning those who are interested.
That position might imply a bias toward silence on the subject.

I am fortunate that I don't have to resort to asking little children for advice.
You are unfortunate that you don't do it anyway. They're frequently wise, if only because they lack the certainty of sartorial superiority.

Yep, you're a bit smug. I'll charitably assume you're just very confident, and not as arrogant as you're acting.
What if I were? I'd be a smug son-of-a-bitch that defends old people who wear old clothes and unreasonably chastises those who condemn them. So?

Let's cut across, Excalibre. I don't think you're committed to the position that wearing old varsity jackets is a sign of moral decay any more than I think it's an indication of moral superiority. We're heading for conflict without any underlying disagreement, and I'll admit it's mostly my fault. As a peace offering, I hereby forswear the last word. Best regards.

[Scissorjack]

That's a shame, Mrs. Havisham: I bet you were the prettiest tool at your prom.

And now, a message from our literary nitpicker. Actually, it was Miss Havisham, who lived bitterly cloistered amidst the detritus of her wedding day because she was jilted at the altar. We now return you to our regular bickering.

[faithfool]

Is it a white person with a tattoo containing any sort of tribal motif or Chinese characters (http://www.hanzismatter.com/)? Because that's lamer than a class ring.

No, no wait! I'm certainly pale as a ghost and I wish to claim the butterfly on my lower back as lamest of all. Besides, I'm thinking of following it up with the Chinese characters for "hippie." :eek: :p

I'm so proud to be a part of the neo counter-culture!!

[Translucent Daydream]

Hell, those jackets are expensive. May as well get all the wear you can out of them. My highschool jacket is wool and nylon with leather sleeves, and cost me $500 and 6 months of saving up to get it. Plus it's really warm in the winter. It's been 7 years since I graduated HS. What's the problem with still wearing the jacket if it's practical?


Damn! Mine cost me $12 bucks. The school paid for the rest of it, and they even put my last name on the back in Old English Style caligeraphy. I was the only one that I knew that had that.

[Scumpup]

Is it a white person with a tattoo containing any sort of tribal motif or Chinese characters (http://www.hanzismatter.com/)? Because that's lamer than a class ring.

Your real name is Mr. Blackwell, isn't it? Of all the people I thought I might meet on this board, Cunt-in-Chief of the Fashion Police would have been my last guess.

[NoClueBoy]

Maybe she was having her current coat dry cleaned yet still needed something for warmth? (as likely as Bosda's guess)


The night of my graduation, I lost my hat thingy (mortar board, whatever - I threw it, hoping to decapitate someone), my robe (used it as a net to catch the cute chick I wanted to come party with us), my car (found it a couple of days later at a friend's house), my jeans (woke up on a couch at another friend's home with some other cute girl laying on me), and much of my memory of later hours of that evening (morning) due to drugs and alcohol. I borrowed a pair of cut offs to go home in.

The mere fact that this lady still has something from back then is kind of impressive, but only in a "huh." kind of way. I don't hate her. I think.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

While I agree that "hating" someone for a coat is bizarre, what exactly does theorizing say about a person?

When bosda theorizes that



what does that say about him? That he's imaginative?
My suggestions were put forward as possibilities, the OPs as final conclusions.

Since none of us knows this person, all of us are speculating.


I was simply more kindly & generous in my outlook.

[VegemiteMoose]

The King of Soup
Your posts belie your message and the Pope wants his hat back.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

The King of Soup
Your posts belie your message and the Pope wants his hat back. And you really don't want to mess with the Pope. (http://www.newsarama.com/ImageComics/BattlePope/BattlePope01issue.htm)

[Telperien]

Hell, those jackets are expensive. May as well get all the wear you can out of them. My highschool jacket is wool and nylon with leather sleeves, and cost me $500 and 6 months of saving up to get it. Plus it's really warm in the winter. It's been 7 years since I graduated HS. What's the problem with still wearing the jacket if it's practical?

Damn. Mine cost about $80. It wasn't a letterman's jacket, though, just a school jacket. A lot of the kids at my school had them and they were made into letterman's jackets, band jackets, what have you, by the application of something related to whatever thing it was you did. They were actually quite nice-looking jackets of two shades of blue. Mine was corduroy, though; the wool ones had weird piping on them, and started looking ratty after a couple of years. My jacket, on the other hand, stayed good-looking for a long time, till it was unfortunately ruined by improper cleaning. It was fun to wear it among my friends. They all looked so drearily identical in their black t-shirts, jeans, trench coats, and eyeliner, and I was (for some reason) looked on as quite subversive for dressing like the rest of the students instead of my own crowd.

Prom dress still fits, the last time I saw it, and it's a classic little black dress type, so if the bitch I loaned it to had bothered to give it back to me, I could still wear it.

Clinging to your high school memories is all very well and good. If those had been the best years of my life, though, I would have killed myself long ago. High school sucked.

But that jacket was awesome.

[TwistyLamp]

On the OTHER hand, I think that the whole school spirit thing is VERY superfical.
I can understand school spirit if it's connected to a private school or a college...or even a camp (hell, I just graduated from college, and LOVED it....Still wear my college hoodies)
but there's nothing all that remarkable or special about public school. What's so special about public high school?

[TwistyLamp]

Oh, and I think the OP was probaly pitting the menality of those folks who still talk about their high school days in a rah rah rah way, even after graduation. I remeber reading a book on a gang rape set in a REALLY whitebread pro school spirt town.....a guy was quoted " That's a party that everyone still talks about."
Gotta admit, that is SAD.....to still talk about a PARTY?!?!? Damn....those people's lives must be so dead!

[Wolfian]

On the OTHER hand, I think that the whole school spirit thing is VERY superfical.
I can understand school spirit if it's connected to a private school or a college...or even a camp (hell, I just graduated from college, and LOVED it....Still wear my college hoodies)
but there's nothing all that remarkable or special about public school. What's so special about public high school?
Here's the problem. You seem to assume that everyone who reflects fondly on their lives must not have fulfilled present lives. That's just wrong. Sure there are some who are stuck in the past and have never done anything else worthwhile. That's kinda pathetic. On the other hand there's nothing wrong with chatting about old times with old friends every once in awhile.

You also assume that everyone has the same oppurtunities as you. They don't. Not necessarily for lack of smarts, but rather for lack of money and whatnot. Not everyone gets a chance to go to a private school or a college or even a camp. Everyone does get a chance to go to high school. What then makes it special? What you put in. The friends you make. The opportunities you take. Same as everything else in life.

I agree, college kicked high school's ass in everything, but high school was a good time too.

[Seven]

<Snippy Mc Sniperton>I still have the suit/tux thing I wore to my senior prom, and I wear it whenever I have an excuse to rock formalwear. That suit kicks fucking ass.



I don't know how old you are but for some reason I now have a visual of some guy at a party in a textured polyester suit with 6 inch 1970's lapels, receding hairline, doing a little hip-jiggle dance and shooting the ladies with his "finger gun" as they walk by.

*bang-bang*
"Hey. How YOU doin'?"

*bang-bang*
"Pretty Lady. How YOU doin'?"

[Seven]

Oh, and I think the OP was probaly pitting the menality of those folks who still talk about their high school days in a rah rah rah way, even after graduation. I remeber reading a book on a gang rape set in a REALLY whitebread pro school spirt town.....a guy was quoted " That's a party that everyone still talks about."
Gotta admit, that is SAD.....to still talk about a PARTY?!?!? Damn....those people's lives must be so dead!

If you hardly ever see the people from your youth, then yeah. I can see still talking about some crazy high school party.

That said, if you see these people all the time and 20 years later you're still talking about that one crazy high school party,. THAT'S LAME.

[ExTank]

You "Hate people like that"?

Like what, exactly?
Someone who was a popular cheerleader or athelete in high?
Someone who might of grabbed their son's or daughter's jacket from the coat closet school because they just running out for a 1/2 gallon of milk?
Someone who unintentionally reminded you of 4 years you'd wish you could just forget?Let it go. Save your hate for stuff that really matters, like why no one would check MTV2 and report back.

Bingo! :dingdingding: We have a winner!

High School is 4 years of my life I wish I could forget, or better yet, simply erase. And I too get a kneejerk twinge of of antipathy at seeing the rah-rah former varsity atheletes/cheerleader soccer parents tooling around town in their SUV's and still acting like they're "Big Man/Most Popular Girl On Campus."

And I "Let It Go" about 8 months after graduating high school, when I went into the Army and rearranged my priorities in life.

"Let It Go." Great advice, and seconded.

[Diane]

And I "Let It Go" about 8 months after graduating high school, when I went into the Army and rearranged my priorities in life.

"Let It Go." Great advice, and seconded.

As someone who works with veterans, let me just say if you think highschool jocks have a hard time "letting it go", you should see former military personnel who can't seem to swallow the fact that they discharged from the Army (or Navy, or Marines, or . . . . ) years ago.

Before any of you bring it up, yeah, I am more than aware that some of these veterans have disabilities they are living with everyday of their lives and that we should be grateful for their military service. My 50 hour work week is dedicated to these guys and has been for a number of years. That's not what I am talking about. I am talking about G.I. Joe who discharged years ago but has yet to "leave" the military.

King of Soup - Are you even speaking English? WT mother F'n fuck?!?!? You sound like you pulled that shit from Chicken Soup for the Smug Asshole, Horribly Bad Purple Prose Writer's Soul.

[Tripler]

The only thing I've gotten out of this thread is this: "grow the fuck up!"

So, based on this rule, if I see a 40-year-old, obviously out-of-shape and potbellied man wearing a "US Marines" t-shirt, I should tell him to "grow up" only because he was a Marine for one tour, 20 years ago?

Fuck that.

By those "rules", I guess this means I'll never be able to wear any of my US Air Force t-shirts or jackets. Ever.

You want to wear your high school jacket? Go ahead! You want to wear a mullet? Go ahead, MacGuyver. More power to you! You earned it, you can wear it.

Fuckin' fashion police. :mad:

Tripler
I guess this means I can't hang out at the mall, either.

[Diane]

The only thing I've gotten out of this thread is this: "grow the fuck up!"

So, based on this rule, if I see a 40-year-old, obviously out-of-shape and potbellied man wearing a "US Marines" t-shirt, I should tell him to "grow up" only because he was a Marine for one tour, 20 years ago?

Fuck that.

By those "rules", I guess this means I'll never be able to wear any of my US Air Force t-shirts or jackets. Ever.

You want to wear your high school jacket? Go ahead! You want to wear a mullet? Go ahead, MacGuyver. More power to you! You earned it, you can wear it.

Fuckin' fashion police. :mad:

Tripler
I guess this means I can't hang out at the mall, either.

If you want to wear your US Marines t-shirt to the mall, go for it. If things like that really bothered me I would be in pretty bad shape at the end of my work day. I was only pointing out the irony of the "let it go" comment from a guy named "ExTank".

[Manda JO]

You also assume that everyone has the same oppurtunities as you. They don't. Not necessarily for lack of smarts, but rather for lack of money and whatnot. Not everyone gets a chance to go to a private school or a college or even a camp. Everyone does get a chance to go to high school. What then makes it special? What you put in. The friends you make. The opportunities you take. Same as everything else in life.

I agree, college kicked high school's ass in everything, but high school was a good time too.


I want to expand on this a little, too: there seems to be this attitude that high school is only a great time filled with posititive memories for the well-off, popular, PTA-president mom kids and that it is hell for the ones that have disadvantages. I teach at an extraordinarally diverse public high school, and many of the kids who enjoy high school the most are the ones who have the least at home--school is where they actually have some control over their own lives and where their efforts and choices actually have rewards.

Letter jackets are a great case-in-point here. Our athletic booster club pays for them, not just for football but for JROTC, swimming, track, tennis, dance team, cheerleading, soccer, cross country, softball, baseball, basketball and so on and so forth. For a lot of our kids, that jacket is the only time anyone has rewarded them with something tangible, no strings attached, for their efforts. For many it's also their only heavy coat, and their only peice of nice clothing that was new when they got it. You better believe they wear the hell out of them, and that those jackets will still be in closets in 35 years.

If there is ANYTHING teaching has taught me, it is that schools vary. They have vastly different cultures. Not everyone's high school experience was like yours, and you absolutley can't make assumptions.

[Wolfian]

The only thing I've gotten out of this thread is this: "grow the fuck up!"

So, based on this rule, if I see a 40-year-old, obviously out-of-shape and potbellied man wearing a "US Marines" t-shirt, I should tell him to "grow up" only because he was a Marine for one tour, 20 years ago?

Fuck that.
Not sure if that was directed at me. I'm the only person who used the phrase "grow the fuck up" and that was directed at the people bitching about the letter jacket.

In any event, I think we're on the same wavelength. Fuck the wannabe fashionistas. Wear what you want. If someone laughs at you, fuck 'em.

I reserve the right to laugh, especially at mullets, though.

[delphica]

Once again, for the slower-paced: your clothes say things about you. If you don't care what you're communicating by how you're dressed, don't worry about it. That doesn't mean the rest of us are also obligated to ignore it. You may join Bosda in trying to come up with conceivable circumstances in which wearing your letter jacket 22 years later isn't lame if you wish.

Speaking as a member of the fashion police, I think you're defining this a little too strictly. If the woman wore her high school letter jacket to a job interview, a wedding, a funeral, or any planned social gathering other than a costume party, I'd be the first Fashion Police Officer on the scene to issue a strongly worded citation. But she was pumping gas! In my book, the only thing your gas pumping ensemble needs to communicate to others is that your clothes are clean, fit properly, and covering up all appropriate areas of the body.

Given the scant information provided by the OP, my offering for conceivable circumstances is that the woman was in town visiting her parents. I am sad to report I have been in similar situations.

Me: I'm going to put gas in the car.
Mom: What? Without a jacket?
Me: I didn't bring a jacket. I'm fine in my sweater.
Mom: What? You know, your high school jacket is in your closet, put that on. I'll get it for you.
Me: No, really, that's not necesary.
Mom: You'll be cold! I'm getting you the jacket!
Me: Ma, no, it's okay.
Mom: Here's the jacket, put it on!
Me: Really, I'm fine without.
Mom: Or you could wear my coat! Here! Displays quilted pink coat with geese appliqued on the pockets.
Me: Ma! All right, give me my high school jacket.

Sometimes it really is about the lesser of two evils. And because I am willing to admit that sometimes my mother has a point, I have also found myself at the gas pump, thinking "You know, it really is kind of cold out here. Huh."

Somewhat more seriously, what we actually know from the OP is that there was a woman getting gas wearing her Class of 84 high school jacket. Because I don't want to put myself in an early grave getting worked up about the worst case scenarios about why she would do such a thing, I'm going to go with the most harmless theory -- she needed to wear a jacket for warmth, and for some reason, not known to the OP nor to us, her high school jacket was the best choice available to her.

[Tripler]

Not sure if that was directed at me. I'm the only person who used the phrase "grow the fuck up" and that was directed at the people bitching about the letter jacket.

No, it wasn't directed at you at all. It was aimed squarely at those who label people who wear their letter jackets/80s clothes/(insert reference here) as "sad" or "pathetic". I just couldn't take the thread anymore. :D

Tripler
I'm still going to hang out at the mall, dammit.

[Jackmannii]

I had a woman get gas yesterday wearing her highschool lettermans jacket.I hate to say this, but at first I thought Surbey was describing something that happened to him at McDonald's :eek:


We didn't have lettermen's jackets at my high school, as dop-smoking was not officially recognized as a team sport.

[Jackmannii]

Come to think of it, there was dope-smoking too.

[Moirai]

I'm still going to hang out at the mall, dammit.

Yeah, I hear the mall in Kabul rocks! ;)

[CanvasShoes]

If she did, it'd be worn out by now.
I wore mine until my early 20s and it definitely wore out. I don't know about other schools, but at my HS the girls didn't get the leather sleeved type, ours were all wool. I suppose I could have had the cuffs and collar fixed (that's what wore out), but I did lose interest at that point anyway.

At what point is one supposed to stop having school pride?I would think it would be more of a question of losing interest as marriage, job, and kids all take precidence over the functions of one's old HS. But I agree, I don't know that school pride is something that "should" just be something you aren't allowed to have (or risk being ridiculed) after a certain age.

It's possible that she remained very active in her old HS (is a teacher, has kids that go there...etc), and still wears her jacket for that reason.

OR...it's just possible that the highlight of her life was some way past glory as a BMOC. In which case OUCH and I'd feel more sorry for her than disdainful and snootily look down my nose.

What difference does it make to you?

[CanvasShoes]

Once again, for the slower-paced: your clothes say things about you. If you don't care what you're communicating by how you're dressed, don't worry about it. That doesn't mean the rest of us are also obligated to ignore it. You may join Bosda in trying to come up with conceivable circumstances in which wearing your letter jacket 22 years later isn't lame if you wish.
Those that are so fixated on what others are wearing and why, are a special species of lame in and of themselves.

And again, as several others have asked, why do there have to BE any "circumstances" to the wearing of a letter jacket PERIOD? Can a person not just have decided to grab it and wear it for no particular reason other than fun, or maybe being bitten by a sentimental bug? (not surprising with this some in this thread, where anything looked fondly on carries vast psychological undertones of stunted mental growth and so on :rolleyes: )

JEEEEEEEEEZ, some of you really have an overinflated sense of your own coolness and non-lameness speaking fashionwise. PUH lease!! Let he who is without fashion sin cast the first "What Not to Wear".

[PastAllReason]

I wouldn't care enough about someone wearing a highschool jacket or ring to bother to post about it. At best (worst?) I might think it sad in a meh kind of way.

Personally, I've still got my high school ring. At least I assume I do, since I don't think I would've thrown it out, or sold it. I still have my prom dress too. I think. Might be time to clean out the closets.

Mostly I'm posting to say that the entire time I was reading this thread Springsteen's Glory Days was running through my head.

[Shirley Ujest]

You are not afraid to fill up your tank in the same frayed jacket you wore 20 years ago. We salute you, Mrs. Highschool Letterman Wearer!

% Mrs. Highschool Letterman Wearer %


I wish I was funny enough to continue on this line of mocking. Instead, I salute you.





Shirley
Who cannot wear anything from 1984 except maybe the underpants.

[TwistyLamp]

I don't know that school pride is something that "should" just be something you aren't allowed to have (or risk being ridiculed) after a certain age.

My thinking is that High School Pride tm is dumb in general. What's there to be proud of? Placement in Public High School is just a matter of where you live. So you got assigned to attend a high school.....WHERE is that acheivement/ pride in that? How do you derive pride from being assigned to a public high school?

[Manda JO]

My thinking is that High School Pride tm is dumb in general. What's there to be proud of? Placement in Public High School is just a matter of where you live. So you got assigned to attend a high school.....WHERE is that acheivement/ pride in that? How do you derive pride from being assigned to a public high school?


For a lot of kids, the high school they are randomly assigned to becomes the center of their life for four years. They make it INTO a place to be proud of because of their contributions. It's the place where they worked harder than they ever knew they could work, and it is the community they belong to.

Look, I never felt any particular pride in the three high schools I went to. All the stuff that mattered to me was outside of school. But I teach now, and I see the value that school-as-community has for many of my kids--including and especially the most disadvantaged among them. It's the place that supports and encourages them, and the place where they can be known as a positive force.

[infamousmom]

ITS BEEN 22 YEARS, GIVE IT UP!
Aw, poor baby. Still seething because the chicks with the letter jackets wouldn't give you the time of day back in high school? It's been 22 years. Get over it.

[infamousmom]

Mostly I'm posting to say that the entire time I was reading this thread Springsteen's Glory Days was running through my head.
Yeah, my thoughts too.

I still have my high school and college class rings, which I don't wear. Heck, still have my wedding dress from 1972. I might wear that if I could figure out a good place to wear a long green dotted-swiss dress with a ruffle around the hem. Somehow I've had a bit of trouble figuring out where that might be, though. :D

[Tripler]

Yeah, I hear the mall in Kabul rocks! ;)



Well, there is a shopping center, which apparently features a small Westernized club. Sometimes, they have a Mick Jagger-esque singer do cover songs. The band name: "The Kabul Stones".

::rimshot::


This pun originally brought to you by AskNott.

Tripler
Due credit to where it's due, I say.

[asterion]

Mostly I'm posting to say that the entire time I was reading this thread Springsteen's Glory Days was running through my head.Well, every time I read the thread title I do it in that "Real Men of Genius" style. If they're still doing those ads, High School Letterman Wearer would be a good one.

[Kyla]

When I was a freshman in high school, I was in band with this guy Terry, a senior. I didn't know him particularly well, so I don't know what was going on in his life that for the next three years, he continued to come to marching band practices and once even marched with us during a halftime show - after he'd graduated! Yup, when I was a senior, there he was, still hanging round with the high school band. Wearing his music letterman's jacket.

We all thought he was pretty pathetic.

I wanted a letterman's jacket when I was in high school sooooo bad. I thought they were just super-cool looking. When I got my music letter, I begged my mom, but she told me if I wanted a $200 jacket, I'd have to pay for it myself. Yeah, right. In retrospect, I'm glad I never got it. After seeing Terry's shining example, I'd never have worn it a second after graduating. (I think I still have my letters tucked away at my parents' house, though!)

[Scumpup]

Yeah, right. In retrospect, I'm glad I never got it. After seeing Terry's shining example, I'd never have worn it a second after graduating. (I think I still have my letters tucked away at my parents' house, though!)

Yep, because everybody who had a letter jacket turned out just like Terry, right? Or are you saying that if you had had a letter jacket you'd have done the same as he? Really, I don't say how you can speak to anything but the second option. Nobody should know better than you what a pathetic mess you can be.

[Scumpup]

Yep, because everybody who had a letter jacket turned out just like Terry, right? Or are you saying that if you had had a letter jacket you'd have done the same as he? Really, I don't say how you can speak to anything but the second option. Nobody should know better than you what a pathetic mess you can be.


Should read "I don't see how you can speak to anything but the second option."

[St. Urho]

Mostly I'm posting to say that the entire time I was reading this thread Springsteen's Glory Days was running through my head.

And I'm just posting to say that this was my class song.

[Cat Whisperer]

Yep, because everybody who had a letter jacket turned out just like Terry, right? Or are you saying that if you had had a letter jacket you'd have done the same as he? Really, I don't say how you can speak to anything but the second option. Nobody should know better than you what a pathetic mess you can be.
I think what Kyla's saying is that seeing Terry doing something incredibly pathetic scared her into going to the other extreme to *not* do what he did - sort of like when people have an alcoholic in the family, they may react by not drinking at all.

[CanvasShoes]

My thinking is that High School Pride tm is dumb in general. What's there to be proud of? Placement in Public High School is just a matter of where you live. So you got assigned to attend a high school.....WHERE is that acheivement/ pride in that? How do you derive pride from being assigned to a public high school?Well, since I am no longer involved in HS stuff (my daughter is long grown and out of the house, and my own "days of glory" are long behind me), I don't really have much of a dog in this fight other than the slight amusement at folks who are overly fixated on what others do and wear.

However, (sorry long winded aren't I :)), as to why a person would end up having school pride?

I didn't mean just in that you happen to go to such and such school, but rather pride in the accomplishments of that school. Mine for instance had an undefeated wrestling team for something like 25 years. I was in HS during the first class to ever attend the school, (it was being built when I was in 6th grade and was a "secondary" rather than HS, meaning 7-12 grade students attended).

During school, I was heavily involved in sports, was in clubs all designed to support sports, Mat Maids (cheerleader like group dedicated to wrestlers), stuff like that. I was in the Pep band that played at football games.

So in a tiny way, I helped contribute to the successes our school had, and I can very well see how a BMOC (which I was certainly nohwere near being) would feel some pride in being a member of a #1 team.

Now, after HS, I got way too busy chasing boys, catching one, working and raising a family. But I still have very fond memories, and whenever I catch the announcer stating that my HS just took state AGAIN after 20whatever years. I think "Huh..cool".

[Kyla]

I think what Kyla's saying is that seeing Terry doing something incredibly pathetic scared her into going to the other extreme to *not* do what he did - sort of like when people have an alcoholic in the family, they may react by not drinking at all.

Yeah, pretty much.

Of course, I still wear my college sweatshirt. See, though, that's Different.

[CanvasShoes]

Well, every time I read the thread title I do it in that "Real Men of Genius" style. If they're still doing those ads, High School Letterman Wearer would be a good one.
Well, I only wore ONE letterman back in HS, but we were going steady, so it was okay.

:D

[PastAllReason]

Mostly I'm posting to say that the entire time I was reading this thread Springsteen's Glory Days was running through my head.
And I'm just posting to say that this was my class song.

Geez, what happened to having a song saying you have a bright, shiny future ahead of you just waiting for you to grab it? No, no, let's go with the "might as well stop living now 'cause you're done" song.

[The King of Soup]

King of Soup - Are you even speaking English? WT mother F'n fuck?!?!? You sound like you pulled that shit from Chicken Soup for the Smug Asshole, Horribly Bad Purple Prose Writer's Soul.

HI, Diane! Yes, I'm speaking English. So far as I know, I speak perfectly good English, and I'm even willing to try to understand your abbreviations, suspensions, and personal idiosyncratic syntax for the sake of interpreting ideas that are actually at odds with recent scientific vocabulary. You, alas, are apparently not part of the new hipness. Sorry. Have some chicken soup and tend to your own purple asshole. It's closer (and either smugger or snugger) than you think. Meanwhile, relax. Look at this as a minor but meaningful setback, one which will create nationalistic arguments for years to come.

[Werd]

I just bought my Son a letter jacket. He is now one of three people in his HS that have one. I am the proud Father of a trend-setter. LOL :D

[TwistyLamp]

For a lot of kids, the high school they are randomly assigned to becomes the center of their life for four years. They make it INTO a place to be proud of because of their contributions. It's the place where they worked harder than they ever knew they could work, and it is the community they belong to.
Well I can somewhat understand school pride in that case......but on the other hand, school pride does seem like a Suburban Whitebread thing. I think that's really what the OP is pitting. ....the Suburban Whitebread mentality.

[Manda JO]

Well I can somewhat understand school pride in that case......but on the other hand, school pride does seem like a Suburban Whitebread thing. I think that's really what the OP is pitting. ....the Suburban Whitebread mentality.

I think that assuming that shows one has had only Suburban Whitebread experiences.

[Wolfian]

Well I can somewhat understand school pride in that case......but on the other hand, school pride does seem like a Suburban Whitebread thing. I think that's really what the OP is pitting. ....the Suburban Whitebread mentality.
Wow. What college did you go to which left you so utterly clueless to experiences beyond your own, TwistyLamp? Back in my little slice of suburbia there was a city down the street and no one had more school pride than the students in that city's local high school. You know why? Because that was it for them. Little chance to go to college. Little chance to get a good job outside of the military. High school was their time to shine. I'd like to see you tell one of them to their face that having school pride is a "Suburban Whitebread thing." I haven't seen a good ass-kicking in awhile.

[St. Urho]

Geez, what happened to having a song saying you have a bright, shiny future ahead of you just waiting for you to grab it? No, no, let's go with the "might as well stop living now 'cause you're done" song.

1. The other two choices were by Bone Thugs & Harmony and some other equally craptastic rap group.

2. Like other Springsteen songs, people seem to pay more attention to the title than the words.

3. I like the song anyway.

4. Besides, it's the Boss™

[kidchameleon]

My thinking is that High School Pride tm is dumb in general. What's there to be proud of? Placement in Public High School is just a matter of where you live. So you got assigned to attend a high school.....WHERE is that acheivement/ pride in that? How do you derive pride from being assigned to a public high school?

Well, go that way, you can toss out state pride, national pride, family pride, etc.

[E-Sabbath]

Hell, you don't care much what people talking to you in real life think of what you do. "I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled."

As I seem to recall, the line is exactly the opposite of what you're saying. Apparently, rolled trouser cuffs were the style at the time, much like an onion at your belt. So it's a reference to an old man trying hard to wear cutting edge clothes and deny his age when he has almost come to acceptance of the fact.
The repetition, and then denial when the third repetition of the line is almost expected, is very powerful, I always thought.

... yeah, okay, digression, but I do like some poetry. That one is one of the few that hit me between the ears.

[Zeriel]

When I was a freshman in high school, I was in band with this guy Terry, a senior. I didn't know him particularly well, so I don't know what was going on in his life that for the next three years, he continued to come to marching band practices and once even marched with us during a halftime show - after he'd graduated! Yup, when I was a senior, there he was, still hanging round with the high school band. Wearing his music letterman's jacket.


I did that something similar to that, but I was getting paid to coach the trumpet line and the band jackets were "uniform" for the directors and coaches.

This whole thread is inane, frankly. I'd wear the band jacket on two occasions--going to a high school game or whatever where specific school pride is still appropriate and welcomed, and .... running errands when I happened to grab whatever jacket was in my parent's closet. Which is the most likely explanation, IMHO.

[elmwood]

I still have my old high school jacket from 1984. I don't wear it; it's just a momento.

One thing you see in small Midwestern and Texas towns that is uncommon "back East" are city limit signs that list school athletic championships.

Lock n' Load
POP 2475
Home of the Geldings
Texas Panhandle Six-Man
Football Champions 1979

What's the point? Are people still talking about it?

[rainwalker78]

When you get a little older, you may begin to understand that dividing people up into categories like "those who judge based on appearances" and "those who don't judge based on appearances" is rather ineffective.

There are two kinds of people. Those who divide everyone into two groups, and those who don't.


Anyway, I don't even have the option of wearing my class ring. The girl that I dated senior year still has it. When we broke up I told her to keep it. Actually, my exact words were more like "Shove it up you ass, you chceating whore!"

Anyway, reading this thread keeps bringing pictures of "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" to mind. Awesome movie BTW. It does seem like a lot of peoples live center on high school. HS sucked for me, so i try to move on.

[Knowed Out]

This encounter I saw between two high school kids from differing areas drove home the point to me that what you consider special and meaningful for that time in your life is just a quaint little schtick to somebody else.

Girl, pointing at guy's jacket: What does your F stand for? French horn?

Guy: That's not an F! That's a P!

Girl: Oh, tee hee, so what does your P stand for?

Guy: PARKVIEW!

Girl: giggle, whatever

[whole bean]

Or maybe . . . she's twenty years younger than she looks, which is better than any of us are doing.

Speak for yourself buddy. I'm 32. I'd like to think I don't look 52. If I did, I sure as hell wouldn't consider that to be "doing better."

[Cat Whisperer]

As I seem to recall, the line is exactly the opposite of what you're saying. Apparently, rolled trouser cuffs were the style at the time, much like an onion at your belt. So it's a reference to an old man trying hard to wear cutting edge clothes and deny his age when he has almost come to acceptance of the fact.
The repetition, and then denial when the third repetition of the line is almost expected, is very powerful, I always thought.

... yeah, okay, digression, but I do like some poetry. That one is one of the few that hit me between the ears.
I always assumed it meant that he was old and didn't care what he looked like, so he would just roll up his trousers instead of hemming them to fit. Ain't poetry grand? (I like the line about measuring your life out with coffee spoons, too.)

[TwistyLamp]

Wolfian, WHY are you attacking me? I didn't say it WAS a whitebread thing....I just said that it seemed like a whitebread suburban phenonomon. You know....something you'd be MORE likely to witness in a whitebred high acheiver suburb, rather then in an inner city setting. That comment doesn't mean that mentalities like those don't exist in other settings.
And why is it that school pride is so heavily connected to sports and or geographic location?(my town is better then YOUR town mentality) You hardly ever see school pride being fostered as a result of number of Jeopardy! Teen Tournament champions or number of National Merit Scholars or kids who acheive with their BRAINS ....School pride is mostly either "goody goody Pep Squad Boy" type or "Although We Are Dumb Jocks, and Won't Be Attending A College Much More Challenging Then Remedial Community College....Our Sports Teams Kick Ass!"

[Surbey]

The woman came back today, in that jacket. I got a better look at it. Its from a school in Kentucky ( I saw a couple state of Kentucky patches on there). Well, we are a FAR way from Kentucky. Its old, its scraggly, it looks like crap.

I also forgot to mention that she insists on giving me her ID when she buys cigarettes( Unless she graduated 4 years before she was born, I don't need it).
This is the third time she's come to my window and she puts her ID in there and doesn't put any money in there until I look at it. ( Not sure if she just thought EVERYONE had to, but after about 30 seconds, I looked down and pushed it back. Then she put her money in.)

I think she's just living in the past.

[Manda JO]

And why is it that school pride is so heavily connected to sports and or geographic location?(my town is better then YOUR town mentality) You hardly ever see school pride being fostered as a result of number of Jeopardy! Teen Tournament champions or number of National Merit Scholars or kids who acheive with their BRAINS ....School pride is mostly either "goody goody Pep Squad Boy" type or "Although We Are Dumb Jocks, and Won't Be Attending A College Much More Challenging Then Remedial Community College....Our Sports Teams Kick Ass!"

Again, schools vary. My Academic Decathlon kids (I am the coach) wear their team hoodies every day that it's cold enough--and when it's football season, they all wear them to games. The Journalism kids seem to have a veritable wardrobe of sweatshirts, t-shirts, hell, for all I know, boxers, that they wear all the time. Every play has a cast shirt, and those get worn to pieces. Student Coucil shirts are a big deal, and of course there are also the class shirts.

If clothing = pride, my kids take pride in a WIDE variety of activities and events.

[Surbey]

Aw, poor baby. Still seething because the chicks with the letter jackets wouldn't give you the time of day back in high school? It's been 22 years. Get over it.


As a matter of fact, I graduated only 8 months ago :D . And I mostly didn't care about people like that. They mostly weren't worth my time.

[JohnT]

ITS BEEN 22 YEARS, GIVE IT UP!

I had a woman get gas yesterday wearing her highschool lettermans jacket. Not uncommon because we have alot of "school spirit" in our town. But, what was peculiar was the wording on the back. "Class of '84". This woman graduated 22 years ago and she still cant give up that school pride.

I hate people like that

I was wondering...

Who was driving the nicer car? You or her?

[JohnT]

Ahh. She's a customer of yours. Make obligatory comment about reading whole thread before posting.

And buying cigarettes? That's not a good sign.

I bet you have this opinion of yours not just because of the jacket, but by her demeanor. By the time a person turns 40, you can tell by their face what sort of life they have led - hard, easy, bitter, full of love, whatever: It's in the eyes.

[hajario]

The woman came back today, in that jacket.

Well next time ask her about why she wears it, for fuck sake. Let her know that there are several of us across the globe who are debating her character and want to know.

[Surbey]

I was wondering...

Who was driving the nicer car? You or her?



Unfortunately, I drive a 97 Chevy Lumina (sedan) and its much better than her "car" she drives.

[CanvasShoes]

The woman came back today, in that jacket. I got a better look at it. Its from a school in Kentucky ( I saw a couple state of Kentucky patches on there). Well, we are a FAR way from Kentucky. Its old, its scraggly, it looks like crap.

I also forgot to mention that she insists on giving me her ID when she buys cigarettes( Unless she graduated 4 years before she was born, I don't need it).
This is the third time she's come to my window and she puts her ID in there and doesn't put any money in there until I look at it. ( Not sure if she just thought EVERYONE had to, but after about 30 seconds, I looked down and pushed it back. Then she put her money in.)

I think she's just living in the past.It's old and scraggly and looks like crap, and she acts a bit oddly when she buys cigarettes? Well, could it just be that she's just one of those people who simply isn't all that bright or with it?

And that it has nothing at all to do with her living in the past or not living in the past? It may not even be her jacket at all, but perhaps an old boyfriend's (some tragic love story gone wrong and it's all she has left from him or something), or maybe she's just poor, bought it at a thrift store or something, perhaps liking it for some reason that hasn't occurred to any of us.

At any rate, once again, WHY are you so fixated and concerned with what one slightly odd older woman wears, thinks or does?

[CanvasShoes]

A letterman would be the person who earned the jacket in the first place. To wear an actual letterman would definitely be interesting and odd, especially after 22 years.

:D