Dear all,
Yes, I have given you some time to rethink, debate,and reread my last two Emus, but now it is time for a third. So without further ado....
Now, I have always heard that fashions come and go and from what I have seen around Marshalltown Senior High, I hope they go more than they come. I am going to try to break down the fashion and personality groups as I see them and I am sure you can find this in most high schools around the country (maybe even the good little Catholic schools!)
*1) First we have one of the most frightening groups. They could either be under the "Where are the parents in this child's life" group or the "British haircuts of the 1980s" group. Yes, this group seems to sport around spiked hair of an unnatural color and they are proud of it. Upon running into a young man with the top of his head consisting of 17 tight spikes that extended about 6 inches off of his scalp and dyed bright neon green, I had to check to see if I was bleeding. He was unscathed, but I needed medicalattention due to being impaled in about seven areas. Damn, that hurt! Anyway, there are a few of these but they are by far the most noticeable.
*2) The second group is a growing group among all ages: "Gothic fashion" (yes, Anne, you are familiar with this style). What must have been normal children at one time who played on swings, fed the family dog, and didn't smoke until the late age of 10, they have now turned into Darth Maul wanna-bes in search of the Jedi force. You will be able to pick these students out as they wear all black (or various shades) and their blonde or red hair has now been lost to multiple cans of motor oil out of a 1984 Honda (and yes, it is the original oil it came with). These students are also very quiet when responding to questions as they must be probing you to see if you are a defender of freedom and enemy of the darkside. Although quite brilliant, these students tend to spend their time brooding over philisophical questions and checking out which shades of black are going to be in this winter. I hear "slate" is the up and comer.
*3) The students who can only be seen in brand name clothes are another big group. I actually have one student that with the exception of his coveted FSU shirt, he has worn Tommy Hilfiger top and bottoms every day this year (26 days). That is no joke. This group is commonly called the "preppies". With me being anti-brand name (I shop only at K-Mart and Sams and have never owned a pair of shoes over $25), I despise this crowd. Their Tommys, Gaps, and Doc Martens seem to mock my Route 66, Billy Blass, and Hanes. Oh well, I own World Com and they don't. I must admit, they do attract the opposite sex better than my Kangaroo shirt, Buster jeans, and New Balance shoes ever did when I was in high school. But hey, I attracted one (Reagan) and that was all I ever needed!
*4)Finally there is the group of women that threaten everything our school dress code was meant to protect. Unfortunately the teachers seem to look the other way. No, they don't wear shirts promoting drugs or sex. No, they don't wear shirts promoting violence. The problem is that we just wish they would wear t-shirts. This group seems to think every day is actually a night in which they plan to pick up a guy at the local night club (aka. Sharky's at UNI). The tops look like gym shorts we wore in the late 80s and the bottoms look like men's underwear. I haven't seen this much cleavage since Spring Break in Jamaica! The glitter in the hair, face, and sparkles on the shirt almost make me wear sunglasses in class. Bras?? Yeah, right, not with these women. That would just make the young boys hate them. Yes, these women are definitely on the right track towards a promising future. But hey, winter is coming, I am sure they will start wearing jeans and sweatshirts to school, right?
Well, that is all. Just a note to tell you that I am doing good and am about to switch over to teach middle schoolers which will surely bring many more stories to my head. Have a great week all and cheer on the ISU Cyclones to a big victory.
Ben "Billy Blass rules" Barry
