From: amz@iguana.cis.ohio-state.edu (Arnold M Zwicky)
Subject: political t-shirts
Followup-To: soc.motss
Summary: two stories
Organization: earnestly practicing faggots
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 01:11:42 GMT

two stories about wearing political t-shirts.  i'll start with
jacques's, because it's more interesting.

j was at senator john glenn's columbus headquarters yesterday morning,
and there was discussion of plans for representation at the various
community festivals that take place between now and the november
elections.  the immediate push was for the greek festival, which
started yesterday and runs through monday.

it turned out that no one was allowed to pass out literature or anything
like that, but that it was ok for people to turn up in campaign t-shirts
and do volunteer work at the festival.  there was then an hour or so
of hemming and hawing, during which j realized that *none* of these
guys was willing to appear in public except in a coat and tie.

so of course he did it.  all afternoon today.  and lots of people
came up to him and said they were voting for glenn, so j thought
maybe it was worthwhile serving soft drinks and wiping trays (and,
being the conscientious person he is, forgetting to eat until 3 in
the afternoon, when he suddenly began to feel sickish).

my story is about my READ MY LIPS t-shirt.  which i wore all day
wednesday, because i was meeting someone for lunch i hadn't met
face to face and he said he'd be wearing a hat (to cover the absence
of hair from radiation treatments) and i said i'd probably be the
only person in the wexner center for the arts wearing a READ MY LIPS
t-shirt.  

then i just forgot i had it on, and went on to connect with my new
post-doc for this year, who had just flown in from california.
(i'll call him lars, which is not exactly his name.)  i took lars
to the linguistics department and gave him the tour, let him check
his e-mail, and showed him his office.  

and then to the graduate school, where lars was carried off into an
inner office.  i waited outside, skimming the chronicle of higher
education (which, on principle, i read only while waiting in 
administrators' offices), when one of the secretaries working in
serried ranks of desks before me called out, "like your t-shirt!"

"oh yes", i said, "it's a good use for that slogan".

they she asked where i'd gotten it, and i had to admit it came from
act up new york and was not available at corner stores in columbus, or
anywhere, and she was dismayed.  various deans came by, and shook my
hand.  i went off to another piece of the administrative warren, to
retrieve piles of useful information for lars said to be stashed
there.

meanwhile, lars was sitting in a office with its door open to the
outside secretarial bullpen.  he was trying to cause himself to get a
check for the month of september, but couldn't help overhearing a
great brouhaha of secretaries outside, about my t-shirt.  some were
offended, some surprised, some admiring of my out-front-ness.  lars
(who is straight but cool, and knows me *very* well, who was in fact
staying with j and me until he can find a place for this year) was
much amused.  he said the secretary who had first admired the shirt
was defending me *hotly*.

arnold (always pleased to cause a little stir...)


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