I come from a family that doesn't really care what they look like. Well, I take that back, we have very nice clothes, it's just not a statement of personality or anything like that. As long as we are wearing clothes, that's all that matters. When I was in my terrible-twos, my parents didn't have the finances to get the in-style stuff in the mall. I got a lot of my clothes from Happy's Flea Market on Williamson Road in Roanoke. I don't remember most of it, it's clothing for goodness sake, but the one item I do remember was a pair of Osh-Kosh overalls. I lived in those overalls. I still enjoy wearing overalls. What's the big deal?

I think I noticed that people have a bone to pick with overalls when I was walking across campus about a month ago. Right now I only own one pair, a rather conservative pair of Ralph Lauren overalls (save for the gaudy logo I really like them.) I walked past two girls by the fountain and one of them looked at me kind of funny. She tapped her companion on the shoulder and pointed at me. The other girl turned around and looked me over. She laughed and they went about their business.

They're just freaking clothes, people! I ask the fountain girls: Have you ever worn overalls in your life? Probably not. The great thing about overalls is that there is no waist on them. It's like a tank top with pants sewn on. There's no rubbing against your waist or red marks when you take them off. You want warm clothes? Overalls are thick and heavy because of all the material they use. Not to mention they can be acquired rather inexpensively. My dad wears Pointer overalls on an almost-daily basis, they've served him well and they didn't cost any more than a pair of regular jeans.

I guess the one thing that annoys me is the mind-set people have when they see someone with overalls. "American Gothic" and all that hee-haw bull crap. Do you think my IQ decreases the second I put them on? Do you think that I drive a vintage Ford truck and chew tobacco because I wear overalls? No. My IQ is about the same as everyone else and I drive a nearly new Nissan Maxima with leather interior, thank you very much. Think my dad works in a factory or drives a tractor-trailer for a living? Nope, he's a corporate executive for a big retail company. This also does not mean that the aforementioned wrongly- overall-associated people wear overalls. See what I mean? It's quality and efficiency of design, I tell you! Do you think capri pants were used by miners in California in the 1850s? No, but overalls were!