I try not to write about the same thing twice in a row, but the blog about t-shirt messages warranted a follow-up. And since both posts were a bit heavy-handed, touching on censorship, violence, and discrimination, I thought I would give the topic one more shot, but on a lighter note. So I’m sharing some of my favorite t-shirt messages.

One that always makes me laugh said, “If you can remember the 60s, you weren’t really there.”

I was in high school in the late 60s, and I remember a t-shirt I had then that said, “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need, and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.” I wasn’t against the military, I just enjoyed the message of support for schools – although I enjoyed bake sales, too.

In college, I had friends named “Hennigan,” Ryan,” and “Mallaney,” so you won’t be surprised that one of our favorite holidays was St. Patrick’s Day. On that day every year – in college and long afterwards – I wore a kelly-green t-shirt with white printing that said, “God invented whiskey to keep the Irish from ruling the world.”

Years ago, I had a friend who was an Emergency Room nurse. Her husband’s weekend hobby was skydiving. Understandably, my friend was not crazy about her husband’s choice of activities. One year, she had a surprise birthday party for him, and I found the perfect t-shirt to get him as a gift – after making sure my friend didn’t object. The t-shirt, which was made by the “No Fear” company, said, “The sky is not the limit. The ground is. So shut up and jump.”

Another t-shirt I saw once that had no relation to skydiving – but could have – said, “That’s a terrible idea… What time?”

“I thought I made a mistake once, but I was wrong,” was another favorite. It reminded me of something else I once read: “If you set out to fail, and you succeed, which one have you done?”

I’ll probably think of more t-shirt slogans as soon as I finish writing this, but I promise this will be my last t-shirt blog – unless I hear from lots of people sharing their own favorite t-shirt sayings. But for now, I’ll simply close with my all-time favorite one, which always gets a laugh when I quote it to anyone. It said, “This t-shirt belongs to a virgin. But it’s a very old t-shirt.”

August 25, 2023
©Betty Liedtke, 2023

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