Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Bow-legged Shuffle And A Missed Ride

Kids of every generation wear clothes that befuddle us old folks. Weirdly dyed hair, piercing of body parts not meant to be pierced occur, tattoos that are a bit much, and other oddities. For the most part I just shake my head in amusement quite frankly.

(Although apparently I'm not always amused. I remember my son coming home one night about 8 years ago when he was nineteen with blue hair. I do recall not saying anything though. As he walked into the living room and glanced over at me I apparently didn't hide my dismay very well. He also misinterpreted my look of dismay as one of anger because his first words were, "Dad, don't worry, it washes right out and I'm going to wash it out right now." I never uttered a word in response. I can say I think back on that night with amusement now though.)

There is one fad, or style, if you will, that seems to defy running its course though. (The use of the term style is used loosely here. The term running plays a role here though.) That's the wearing of pants hanging down somewhere between the bottom half of one's ass and one's knees. 

It seems like the first time I saw young guys running around with their pants hanging off their asses was about 10 years ago. I remember thinking how ridiculous this latest "fad" or "style" was and that it couldn't last long. Apparently it has endured though because young guys still run around wanting to show us their boxers, or lack thereof of undergarments.

Watching them try to walk a straight line amuses me. They all invariably have to wear a belt cinched tightly to keep the pants somewhat held above their knees and can't actually walk placing their feet directly in front of them. Their feet have to shuffle forward, placed about a foot to the outside of their shoulders, to keep their pants from falling down around their ankles. Trying to run had to be hilarious, but until Sunday I hadn't seen that feat attempted.

I was standing outside Sunday at work taking a smoke break. The mall exit I do this by also serves as the bus stop exit. As I was standing out there the city bus was there and it was the last bus of the day coming/leaving the mall. As the bus started to pull away a young guy burst out of the mall and started running after the bus. At first I thought there was something wrong with the kid and he had some kind of disability by the way he was running. His legs were splayed way out to the right and left of him as he "shuffled" after the bus. His pants were losing altitude as the bus faded from my view, as well as his view. He finally gave up the chase, with his pants now located below his knees. 

I wasn't laughing just yet though. Plenty of other people were though. He then started to shuffle back to the mall trying to pull his pants back up. This effort caused me to laugh. He kept yanking at them and they wouldn't come up over his knee area. Apparently the belt was cinched so tight he had to stop and release the belt buckle, then the pants nose dived around his ankles, with him then holding the belt in his hand as it slipped out of the belt loops in his pants completely. I had tears running down my face as he stood there with his pants down around his ankles and a belt dangling in one hand.

As he commenced his walk of shame shuffle back to the mall entrance I noticed he was a tad upset. Missing the last bus I surmised could do that I thought. Compounding that with the fact that I was still laughing encouraged him to threaten me with an "ass kicking" as well as he shuffled up to the mall entrance. Stupid kid. All this did was to get me laughing much harder at him. When I informed him threats from a kid who couldn't keep his pants up weren't to be taken seriously he muttered a few curse words at me and went back into the mall.

Gee, I sure hope he found a ride home.

12 comments:

Gail said...

That is a "style" that fails to impress me.

ChiTown Girl said...

Ugh! You just hit on one of my BIGGEST pet peeves!!!! Try and imagine what I see on a daily basis working in the hood. It's ridiculous! The thing that bugs me the most about this 'look' is that it started as a way to idolize those idiots who are in prison (since you aren't allowed to have a belt in prison, and that's what their pants would do). Give me a break!!

Kev D. said...

It goes back at least 15 years. It was sometime mid 90's if I remember correctly.

It was dumb then, and it's dumb now.

AMAZING that you laughed in his face. Good for you!

e said...

Now that's funny! Such a ridiculous look I agree!
~Michelle

The Reckmonster said...

I remember one Halloween (when I used to work with the juvenile delinquents back in the mid-90's) - one of the case managers and I dressed up as "adolescents" - and I went out to a local store and bought some jeans on clearance - in a men's size 38 - and put some boxer shorts on under them so they would stick out well above the jeans (over my "regular" drawers, of course). We donned other "adolescent" gear and allowed our pants to "sag" (I also had to purchase a belt large enough to make sure those pants didn't take a nosedive below my hips, which was about as far down as I would allow them to go). We got to work - and the kids had a field day. All day long, they kept saying, "You guys look STOOOPID!" Hmmmm..... (looked stupid then and looks even more stupid now - especially since I'm 15 years older!)

Val said...

Awesome. I'm all for "to each his own" but c'mon - these kids look like they have no respect for themselves - and anyone else for that matter. And they wonder why no one takes them seriously. Fun post - thanks for the morning giggle with my coffee.

About Last Weekend said...

Hi there, nice to meet you. Jody here from Ca. Yes my son and his friends are starting to adopt the shuffle and the hood even the ones who wear skinny jeans. Maybe they would do something if I burst into my "shuffle" from the eighties. Pretty embarrasing for everyone...

Sara Strand said...

I have (more times than people around me want to know about) said something to these losers. Really? I don't think your boxers are attractive. It's stupid. I don't understand where the logic was when this started. Ugh.

Liz Mays said...

I'd be cracking up too. That is SO funny! I've never seen quite that, but I do see them constantly tugging up on their pants because they're having trouble staying on.

Never did I think this trend would last so long!

Sarahf said...

Do you think that humiliating episode will make me wear his pants properly from now on?

SY said...

wow.. funny. I would've been laughing too.. guys like this just make me want to slap them up the back of their head....

Who ever decided that was cute 10 years ago is a horrible person

JustRex said...

I make fun of the knuckleheads at work when I catch them sagging. One of the best ways to get them to stop is make comments about the quality of the bootie hanging out there and start loudly asking for bids. And I've had more than one of them trip and fall over their pants with handcuffs on. A couple loud rounds of "Hey stupid! I'll bet that hurt, didn't it?" usually stops them at least for awhile. I suspect it's some sort of evolution at work. It's nature trying to weed out the stupid ones.