vain uow i'm so vain i prob'ly think this blathe is about me 040825 ... anomalous vanity insanity 050424 ... n o m yep. 110520 ... ovenbird They have decided, collectively, that coats are not cool. No one in the 13-15 age bracket is wearing a coat, even on the windiest, rainiest, most miserable days. My son would rather come home soaked straight through than wear a coat. He would rather peel off his sodden clothes in the front hallway when he arrives home and run upstairs in his underwear to get changed than have his friends discover that he has a coat. He would rather freeze in a hoodie in the pouring rain and get to school looking like a mitten that was abandoned in a puddle some time in the winter of 2019, than wear a coat. And I just don’t understand it. I asked him what’s wrong with his raincoat and he couldn’t pinpoint a single specific thing. He could only say, “I don’t like it.” By which he means (I think) that the garment is socially unacceptable. We live on the west coast. It rains endlessly from October to April. But the teenagers have decided that raincoats detract from your social viability and are busy getting fungal infections because their feet are soaked all day. And this silliness never stops. Adults are probably going to buy that dumb iPhone sock that just came out because they are convinced that this particular bit of conspicuous consumption will enhance their public facing desirability. Why do we do this to each other? Why do we start fads and trends and then judge each other’s worth on whether or not we can conform? I understand the deep need to belong and the symbolic structures that reinforce that sense of belonging. I know that not wearing a coat is part of this manufactured symbolic structure, but couldn’t we pick something better? I don’t know, like acquiring active listening skills? Why aren’t all the cool kids the ones who have learned the art of validation? The world confuses me. But then, cool is not a thing I’ve ever been. 251113 what's it to you? who go blather from