4396: A Cane and a High Starched Collar
Story Time:
Nine years ago this day, I put on a dog collar, purportedly as part of a Hallowe'en costume. Eight years and nine months later, on 31 July, I took it off again.
My reasons for this were a bit obtuse, even for me: Part of me wanted to see what kind of discomforts with which we burden our animal friends. Mostly, I thought I wanted to give people something innocuous to discover about me so they wouldn't find out my "real" dark secrets. To this day, I'm still not sure what to think about that particular experiment, but I can tell you what I discovered.
First, a properly adjusted collar is not only fairly comfortable after getting used to it, I found that I started "missing" it once I stopped wearing it. Second, when worn just so, most people don't even think about it [I worked in retail for two years without anyone realizing what it was, because I wore it with D-ring in the back], though my wardrobe full of high collars may have had a lot to do with it. Third, when someone DID ask about it... oddly enough, I felt too embarrassed to explain it. [My cover story was "It's a Yu-Gi-Oh! thing" [note the Blue Eyes White Dragon tag]--which is true but not the whole story.]
...that's about it, really. It became such a part of me that I barely thought about it most of the time except in reflex [turning it around for work, turning it back off the clock].
Why did I wear it for so long, and why did I finally take it off at such an odd, not-quite-round-number occasion? Well, I had wanted to stop after an exact number, but years seven and eight went by and I'd completely forgotten to get a replacement [to switch out, since it gets old and likely smelly, though no one ever mentioned a smell if it did, since I scrubbed it every night when I showered]. Finally, I was reaching a point when it just felt more limiting than defining my sense of self, so I stopped at an almost-round-number point.
I do have a replacement, which will feature in my costume for work later today, but I plan to take it off again after work. Which may be at the end of the day when I shower, but not after another eight-and-three-fourths years.
...anyway, here's my new costume [not the work one, it's too obtuse for that]
Nine years ago this day, I put on a dog collar, purportedly as part of a Hallowe'en costume. Eight years and nine months later, on 31 July, I took it off again.
My reasons for this were a bit obtuse, even for me: Part of me wanted to see what kind of discomforts with which we burden our animal friends. Mostly, I thought I wanted to give people something innocuous to discover about me so they wouldn't find out my "real" dark secrets. To this day, I'm still not sure what to think about that particular experiment, but I can tell you what I discovered.
First, a properly adjusted collar is not only fairly comfortable after getting used to it, I found that I started "missing" it once I stopped wearing it. Second, when worn just so, most people don't even think about it [I worked in retail for two years without anyone realizing what it was, because I wore it with D-ring in the back], though my wardrobe full of high collars may have had a lot to do with it. Third, when someone DID ask about it... oddly enough, I felt too embarrassed to explain it. [My cover story was "It's a Yu-Gi-Oh! thing" [note the Blue Eyes White Dragon tag]--which is true but not the whole story.]
...that's about it, really. It became such a part of me that I barely thought about it most of the time except in reflex [turning it around for work, turning it back off the clock].
Why did I wear it for so long, and why did I finally take it off at such an odd, not-quite-round-number occasion? Well, I had wanted to stop after an exact number, but years seven and eight went by and I'd completely forgotten to get a replacement [to switch out, since it gets old and likely smelly, though no one ever mentioned a smell if it did, since I scrubbed it every night when I showered]. Finally, I was reaching a point when it just felt more limiting than defining my sense of self, so I stopped at an almost-round-number point.
I do have a replacement, which will feature in my costume for work later today, but I plan to take it off again after work. Which may be at the end of the day when I shower, but not after another eight-and-three-fourths years.
...anyway, here's my new costume [not the work one, it's too obtuse for that]