# I pit you, highschool letterman wearer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 10, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864 "2006-02-10T14:53:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/1 "2006-02-10T14:53:40Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/2 "2006-02-10T14:57:34Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/3 "2006-02-10T15:04:41Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/4 "2006-02-10T15:07:39Z")
> [@EJs girl](#): > > I take it you are assuming she wears it every day? If she did, it’d be worn out by now. > [@Surbey](#): > > This woman graduated 22 years ago and she still cant give up that school pride. > > I hate people like that At what point is one supposed to stop having school pride? ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/5 "2006-02-10T15:11:11Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/6 "2006-02-10T15:21:17Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/7 "2006-02-10T15:23:45Z")
Haven’t you heard? Vintage is “in” right now. ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/8 "2006-02-10T15:30:58Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/9 "2006-02-10T15:34:21Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/10 "2006-02-10T15:56:40Z")
> [@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? Sure you’re allowed to. It’s your finger, knock yourself out. That doesn’t make it any less lame. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/11 "2006-02-10T16:40:33Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/12 "2006-02-10T16:54:21Z")
**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? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/13 "2006-02-10T16:57:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/14 "2006-02-10T16:58:34Z")
> [@Surbey](#): > > I hate people like that I hate people who can still fit into the clothing they wore twenty two years ago. Who can blame her for wanting to flaunt it? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/15 "2006-02-10T17:01:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/16 "2006-02-10T17:15:32Z")
> [@furt](#): > > At what point is one supposed to stop having school pride? Two weeks after the first day of freshamn year. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/17 "2006-02-10T17:20:05Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > 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? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/18 "2006-02-10T17:31:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/19 "2006-02-10T17:47:28Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864/20 "2006-02-10T17:49:48Z")
> [@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. If he’s a tool, you’re a power tool. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-highschool-letterman-wearer/343864.md?page=2)