Veronica's Blog

A Yellow Shirt | August 12, 2009

We all remember when my brother Anthony was younger he had a knack for spilling condiments on his clothing.  Well, one day in particular he managed to drop a dollop of mustard right smack on his shirt.  My mom, horrified, was pointing the mistake out to Anthony who simply replied, “Mom!  It’s a yellow shirt!”.  Problem solved.

Today we have another “Yellow Shirt” story to add to our nutty family history.  Eric and I were hanging out with DeAngelo who was explaining to us that he was afraid he was going to get suspended from school because he didn’t have a yellow shirt.  Apparently, his new middle school requires uniforms – a fact his family did not realize when they went back-to-school shopping last week.  DeAngelo got a bunch of new things, but nothing yellow.  Since he has already worn the clothes, his mom didn’t want to take them back.  She also didn’t have money to buy him yellow shirts.  He was stuck.

The school apparently told him that if he didn’t get a yellow shirt he was going to get suspended  (a fact I find both stupid and disturbing).  D was really worried about this and telling me & Eric that he might not be able to go back to school, wouldn’t be able to do his homework, and would have to go back to 5th grade.  Perhaps most of all, he was worried if he didn’t have homework, he wouldn’t be able to come over after school to work on problems with Eric.

Somewhere during the conversation Eric disappeared.  A few minutes later I heard rumbling which I thought to be thunder, only to realize it was Eric rummaging in the attic above us.  After a long time of rumbling, Eric returned with an over-sized yellow Ronald Blue & Co. collared shirt.  D was ecstatic.

We hung out a little bit longer and D was grinning ear to ear with the shirt slung over his shoulder.  As we parted for the night, he yelled out “Thanks for the shirt Eric!”

The best part is, not only does he have room to grow into the shirt – but he can spill mustard on it and no one will know.