So there I was, a young boy of 12, being sent to public school in the 6th grade. We had just moved from our old house into the current one, mom had just gotten married, I got a dog and I had switched from a private school to a public school. So what does my mother make me wear on the first day of school? A suit and tie. She said, "all the kids wear suits on the first day." I sometimes wonder why she said those things. Especially since she was a teacher. I am pretty sure that in Hirshi High School the kids don't wear suits on the first day. Of course everyone was wearing regular clothes and into the classroom walks the "new guy" wearing a suit. My face was red as I stared at all those kids and they stared back at me in disbelief. I was thinking to myself,"Why me?" I think I even caught the teacher off guard as well. She gave me a look of pity and told me to take my seat. That's one thing I will never understand. I think it is an old people thing, but what is this fascination with suits and ties? Mom always made me wear a suit and tie on Christmas Day. Well, I guess everyone knows that when you eat out at a restaurant on Christmas you need a suit. It really is an old-fashioned way of thinking. Nowadays in the workforce, most people who wear suits and ties make less than the business casual dressed people. Today I am at work wearing jeans and a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt and I am pulling in six-figures. I always had problems tying ties anyways. I think it stems from failing tying shoes in kindergarten - from which my parents deemed me retarded. The collars were always too tight on those shirts as well. The only situations where it is necessary to wear suits would be weddings, funerals and job interviews. Even church nowadays is casual. Nevertheless, the "clothes wars" continued on. Mom made me wear a suit to church and made Melinda wear a dress. Melinda was a fighter and she would yell the loudest,"Mom I am not wearing a dress!" But in the end she wore the dress. Ah, memories..

Thought of the Day
"She wants me to dress smart-casual. What is that?"
"I don't know, but you don't have it."
- George and Jerry, in "The Bizarro Jerry"