I was out and about last week, in a local store, and found something I simply had to have...
A T-Shirt from Bakersfield High - "Home of the Drillers".
I took my impulse buy up to the counter where a kindly looking grandmother was manning the register. She took one look at my purchase and a sly smile crossed her face.
"So you're a Driller too" she whispered.
Well Ma'am, as a matter of fact I am, in a manner of speaking, but not how you think and let's just leave it at that.
"Once a Driller, always a Driller" she added.
I couldn't agree more. And to think some people still think it's a choice.
How popular would I be, walking down the streets of West Hollywood in my "DRILLER" shirt? Such a waste. With no gay community to speak of here, the double entendre is completely lost on the locals. At least I find the rampant "Driller Pride" around town amusing.
I don't think they realize the gold mine they're sitting on. If they opened a boutique in San Francisco, or West Hollywood, Key West or Provincetown, they would make a fortune. Hell, the mail orders alone could probably cover the entire athletic budget for the school.
There's an "athletic supporter" joke in there somewhere, but who has the time.
It was only after I got home it dawned on me how pointless it was. Where am I going to wear the shirt? Here? The natives aren't in on the joke, so everyone will just think I went to school there.
No, this is the type of shirt you pick up when you're passing through town and then you wear it out to the clubs back in the city to amuse your friends. This is a shirt you can only wear somewhere there is irony. Which isn't here.
So into the drawer it went. Such a pity.
At least it only cost 8 bucks.
