U.S. Campus Life
Geeky T-shirts
By Masako Yamada
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おたくファッション
最近、雅子さんは思います。周りは「おたく」ばっかり?!そういえば、先日パソコンの悩みに応えてくれたのはコンピューターおたくの友人たちだったし、研究室でも数式のTシャツを堂々と着ている人がいる…。雅子さんは、そんなおたく友達をたまに冷やかすのですが、実は、自分も人のことを言えたものではありません。
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Last week, I wrote about some computer
geeks who have helped me with my broken computers. I've recently been having
a hard time trying to explain what a "geek" is to my foreign friends, but one of
my labmates
provided an excellent example when he walked into our lab: he was wearing a
T-shirt with Maxwell's
Equations on the front. I told him that this was an example of Geeky
behavior. I think he was
taken aback — he truly thought those equations were beautiful — but it's a
sort of game in our lab to make
jokes when we see each other acting too much like scientists.
It doesn't
take a keen eye to distinguish the people who work in my building from
those who work in, say,
the business
school building across the street. Very few of the researchers and graduate
students in the physics
department can be considered stylish. People don't have to wear T-shirts
with equations to give
off a distinct
"sciencey" air, either. The essence permeates
all the time.
My friend Emilia and I have made a list of some especially hopeless
fashion choices we've seen in our lab. Mostly, the list involves T-shirts. We openly
tease the poor fashion victims. Imagine
seeing people (mostly men) in their late
20's and 30's wearing T-shirts everyday with the following
large designs on the front: a cartoon
of the Tazmanian
Devil; a large turkey;
two mating
seals; the logo of a chain restaurant; a large lobster with the words
"BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS" . . . . Hey, that lobster T-shirt is mine! And in
spite of my having made fun of my friend's Maxwell's Equations T-shirt at
school, I have a similar
T-shirt at home.
Ever since I entered college, I've
gone through many phases of wanting to become more sophisticated
in my daily appearance. In the past, I've
sworn off sweatshirts. I've
vowed to wear makeup every day. I've
even manicured my nails using fake tips. However, I've
become less and less concerned about my appearance as
my graduate school years have
gone by. My mom can't
stand seeing me wearing tired
logo T-shirts with scuffed
sneakers, no makeup and no hair products. She claims
my brothers in Japan are more fashion-forward
than I am. She's right . . . but so what?
The reason we can all tease each other in good humor is because these awful
T-shirts are like a uniform that distinguish us from "normal" people. I mentioned
to one professor that he always seems to be wearing geeky T-shirts with
computer logos on them. He proudly told me that he gets a lot of free T-shirt
samples and that he hardly
needs to buy any clothing. The friends whom I tease in the lab have
enough pride to
continue wearing their T-shirts. I have to admit that I really like my lobster
T-shirt, too.
It's amazing what one gets
used to and accepts (as
long as it's clean) but I have to constantly remind
myself that I work in a very narrow field, and the world outside is big and
wide and perhaps less forgiving.
One of my non-scientist friends arrived at a party at my home drenched
because of a sudden thunderstorm.
I lent her one of my T-shirts, but she looked visibly
uncomfortable
wearing it. It was clear that she couldn't wait for her dress to dry out so that
she could wear it again. Her reaction was probably normal, and it made
me feel
embarrassed that I couldn't provide nicer clothing.
Even one of my most hard-core,
frugal,
scruffy
physicist friends has recently announced that he'll start wearing decent
clothing from now on. I told him that his labmates probably wouldn't care. He
said his concern is not impressing his labmates. He quipped,
"To make the dog drool,
you have to ring the bell." In other words, he wants a girlfriend. Yes, that's
one way of breaking
free of the spell of geeky T-shirts.
Another way is to start looking for a job, as I will be in the fall. Like it
or not, I know I have to start assuming
a "professional" air. I have already begun to eye items in my closet that are
destined for the charity
bin. However, I doubt that I will get rid of my lobster T-shirt.
Shukan ST: Aug. 31, 2001
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