What Not To Wear

It's almost over again. Spirit Week comes but once a year in elementary school, not like I remember back in high school, when each major sport needed that "extra little push over the cliff" (in the words of Nigel Tufnel). Now I only have my orderly routine obscured for five days, right near the end of the year. That gives me some solace.
I admit it. I'm wrapped a little tight when it comes to my "school clothes." When I started teaching, my school was struggling to implement a uniform policy: white shirts and blue pants. It was a tough sell. We were told by numerous parents that it was too expensive and it was stifling to their child's creativity. I tried to comprehend this as I looked out on the sea of identical FUBU jerseys and Air Jordan sneakers with retail prices somewhere around my weekly teacher's salary. But it did cement my feelings of solidarity with the kids. I had a few pair of blue pants and while I didn't wear a white shirt every day, I wore a solid color with a color. No T shirts. No jerseys. Over the past couple of years, the rest of the staff has instituted a "casual Friday" clause, wherein we all wear our purple Horace Mann T shirts. I have managed to fit this into my rigidly scheduled rotation, though at times wearing a T shirt gives me the impression that I must be someplace else. When I came home from work, I shed my uniform and put on my "play clothes." It provided me with a clear line between work and life at home.
This is the way it has been for twelve years. When Spirit Week comes and we are asked to wear various apparel or combinations of apparel, my first instinct is to toss it off and just continue the regular pattern. But the existence of Spirit Week is apparently a more powerful pull than the routine I have created the rest of the year and I succumb. I wore pajamas on Tuesday. Monday featured a Broncos jersey. Thursday was a "funky hat." And oddly enough, Wednesday's costume was blue pants and a white shirt. Today is Crazy Hair day. I'll do what I can with what I have, and on Monday, I'll be back to the comfort of the same old same old. I've got spirit, and a rigidly precise sense of fashion.