Apparently when my parents moved away from my childhood home and into their condo downtown they decided that one of the few items of their children's wardrobes they should take with them was a black jacket that had a orange S sewed onto it. I thought for a second about just going to school in my short sleeve shirt instead of wearing the jacket but after taking measure of the temperature outside I decided that I should bite the bullet and put on the nostalgic garment. Now usually a jacket is a jacket but in this case there are a few reasons to be embarrassed:
- For one, I am 22 years old, wearing clothes with my name on them is something I should get away from at this point.
- I graduated form high school in 2004. I have always found it kind of pathetic when I walk down the street and see people wearing their letter jackets after they graduated from high school (for example if it is 2009 and you see someone with a '07 on the left arm). It is like they are trying to re-live their glory days. As if the time they won districts with the soccer team is the pinnacle of their existence and as long as they keep wearing that jacket that moment will exist forever.
- I only lettered in Mock Trial and Theater. On the totem poll of cool things to letter in these are near the bottom. Instead of having a football or a tennis racket patch on my shoulder I have the happy/sad masks and a gavel. So I lettered in being a big dork.
It is important to note that I was not the only person in the school with these patches. I went to a school that did not have a lot of big time athletic programs. As an inner city public school we couldn't compete with the suburbs in football or baseball, as a result school spirit was exhibited for a number of off beat activities. My was only really good at 5 things: Band, Theater, Mock Trial, Tennis and Ultimate Frisbee. So there were quite a few people walking around with letter jackets for nerdier activities.
- I didn't want the letter jacket in the first place. When I was in high school I took great pride in my Minnesotan roots. These roots, I believed, would prevent my from ever becoming cold. I would drive around in January with my car windows open, sleep with my air conditioner on in February and yes, go out without a jacket in December. I never wore any kind of jacket in high school because I found them cumbersome (I didn't have a locker and hated hauling it around).
My mother bought the jacket for me because she was convinced I would always regret it if I didn't get one. I don't know what her view on this was based on. Possibly that when she was in high school all the cool kids had Letterman jackets while all the squares had to walk around freezing without them. Possibly the fact that my brother had one from wrestling that he got a lot of use and pride out of. Possibly that my sister never earned a letter and she regretted not have the jacket as a tangible piece of school spirit. Whatever it was, my mother bought me the jacket even over my objections.
In spite of all these factors, this morning my need for warmth won out over my need to not be embarrassed, and I wore the jacket to law school. When I reached into the pockets I found a tennis ball (I liked to bounce them when I got bored), a receipt for a Whatchamacallit candy bar (some things never change) and a ticket stub for The Matrix: Reloaded.
Even though it was a bit embarrassing to wear that jacket around downtown this morning I might continue to wear it for the next few weeks, it is actually very warm. Also at this point I think it is just off-beat enough to be cool again. It's almost like I bought someone else's jacket at a thrift store for 10 dollars. so yeah I will wear it, at least until the joke wears off and I start to feel pathetic again.
*Post-Script
After less than a day of wearing the jacket the novelty has worn off. I have gauged my classmates responses and found that jacket was much more pathetic than it was funny. I will now resume only wearing the jacket if I am going sledding
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