Yes, I’m Still Running.

voltee ♦ April 18, 2012 ♦ 4 Comments

Item: Tee-Shirt Color/Fabric: Black/white/Bono, cotton Designer: Unknown Where Purchased: Free, Grandma’s Garage Years Owned: 12ish

Today is glorious! I didn’t have to be at work until the afternoon, and I had no appointments to attend, no vital shopping obligation to fulfill, and no urgent house cleaning operations to undertake. And so, I got to have a lovely, leisurely morning. One that included writing! Bliss.
Let’s ponder this ancient tee, shall we?
It is from 1987. 25 years old. That’s older than many of you out there reading this!
I haven’t owned it for that long, though. I was nine when this tee was made, and was into Tiffany and Debbie Gibson at the time. My U2 sickness wouldn’t befall me for another three years (for more info about that topic, start here).
I found this in a place of legend, a hollowed place, really. My Grandparents’ garage.
The shopping gene truly does flow through my veins. My Grandparents were simply epic shoppers.
They would be the King and Queen of Extreme Couponing if they were still here with us.
They shopped like it was their job.
Every Sunday, they would get the paper, with extra coupon inserts, and cut coupons for hours. Then they would tediously scour the grocery store ads for what was on sale, painstakingly match the sales to the coupons, and the go on double or triple coupon day.
This was a process to behold.
A complicated, beautiful, money-saving ballet.
When it was over, they had their very own grocery store in their basement, where all the family could go to get boxes of Kix for $0.07.
But their shopping prowess wasn’t merely limited to groceries.
They were also consummate garage sale shoppers.
Every summer, they would have a giant garage sale, where they would sell treasures found at other garage sales, and where the rest of the family could sell things, too.
I always found something wonderful.
Eventually, it became too much work to hold the sales. But somehow Grandma always had boxes full of mysterious goodies.
I can’t remember where they came from, if they were leftovers from years past, or things people had given her in case she ever did another sale. But when we got to go through one of those boxes, it was like Christmas and a slot machine all rolled into one.
Because you just never knew what you might find.
Sometimes, there were treasures untold.
And sometimes there were piles of junk.
It was exciting and exhilarating, and I loved it.
And one day, I think I found this tee.
I wish I could describe how I felt when I beheld this, crumpled in a cardboard box.
It was like I had discovered a treasure map hidden behind a painting that had hung in my living room for years.
Not exactly like that, mind you, but sort of close to that.
A feeling of sublime joy mixed with extreme bewilderment.
Where had this come from? Was one of my family members a U2 fan, like me? Did they actually go to one of the concerts listed here on the back?

Enthralling questions I never found the answers to.
I did ask my Grandma if she knew where this came from, and she had no earthly idea.
Anyway, I think that I found this either my senior year of high school, or my freshman year of college. Those were what I like to call my prime Graphic Tee years. The Graphic Tee wasa solid foundation of my wardrobe. I had many.
Tees with names of places I’d never been, tees with symbols I didn’t know but made up new explanations for every time someone asked me what they meant, logo tees from childhood favorites like Mr. Bubble, tees with holographic pictures of Mario and Luigi on them, and many, many more. This was one of my favorites.
These days, it is definitely showing its age. It may be yellowing in a few places, but it now has that nice tissue paper feel that is very expensive to buy in a new tee.
And it is my number one favorite band of all time. And an album that I love. And there really is nothing quite like a well-loved Rock Tee.
I just don’t know if I can live without this. But I don’t wear it often enough. So maybe I can’t live with it, either.