Hypocrisy and the High School Mind

Hypocrisy is everywhere; everyone has been guilty of it at some point. However, this bugs me a little bit, and I need to get it of my chest.

Our school has a fairly loose dress code, but there are a few rules that I personally refuse to abide by, due to a lack of coherent reasoning behind them. Namely, the wearing of camouflage is banned district-wide, due to "encouraging militant and/or gang activity". That would make sense, if we weren't a 97% white school situated firmly between a long row of fast food joints and Suburbia. I'm not racist, so don't take my comments as such. If we were a 50% white, 50% black school, the likelihood of crime or violence would be much greater, more so if we were an inner city school. But what do our administrators hope to prevent with not allowing camo?

It's supposed to be the "banning of wearing 'colors'", if I'm not mistaken. Essentially, they are wanting everyone to stop wearing camo because that's a traditionally militant symbol. The funny thing is, we don't get in trouble for wearing all black. If the teachers see a group of students wearing black outfits with evil-looking designs or something of the sort, not a word is spoken. I'd think that would be the first thing on the chopping block after Columbine. Yet camo is banned. What if it's not a military pattern? What if it is hunting pattern, like Mossy Oak Breakup? That's not militant, it's hunting. (By the way, no popular company/department store sells a military camouflage pattern.)

The next one is the wallet chain. I wear one roughly 2 feet long all the time. If a teacher asks me to put it in my pocket, I do. But I will not take it off. Teachers haven't told me to take it off this year. Yet today, I got stopped by an administrator for the camo and got yelled at for the chain as well. I'm not a troublemaking student by any means, but I will fight this just for the hell of it.

One thing every administrator failed to notice was the fact that my new Watchmen t-shirt has a photo of The Comedian on it, holding a sniper rifle, with a flask sitting on a foreground table. Not a single person metioned it.

The administrator that originally busted me for it was in the office, and I was making copies in there. She came up and asked me how many people had also talked to me about the shorts. When I told her "None whatsoever", she looked appaled. She brought in another vice principal to see, an with both of them there, I said this:
"Well, no one has talked to me other than you about the shorts and the chain, but it seems like you didn't notice the most egregious violation I'm wearing. My shirt clearly shows a man holding a rifle, pointed out the window at a crowd. There is also a flask sitting on the table near my waistline. Not to mention, not a single person in over three weeks has noticed that I wear my (I pull back my hair to show) headphones all day long."

Their collective looks of shock were priceless. Honestly, so worth it. They were speechless, so much so that all they could do was walk back to their offices, heads slightly hung in unadmitting shame.

I will be wearing the shorts again next week.

Concert Month: A Preview

Alright, so all last year I bitched about how few good shows came around here: Gigantour (April) was in Louisville, Behemoth (May) @Bogarts in town, and Children of Bodom (Sept./Oct, I think) was in Columbus. And that was about it. It sucks being a metalhead resident to Cincinnatio, due to an unspoken "Fuck playing near Ohio- Cleveland sucks enough, fuck the rest of them" pact taken by most notable bands. Matal Masters was closest in Philly and Cleveland, and Iron Maiden was in Cleveland as well, a show only our devoted Maiden fan Jake went to.

This year is looking right the hell up, folks. Great shows, both festival and headlining tours, are headed within 150 miles of the good 'ol Nati. First up, we have the month of April. Headlining at the Madhatter across the river, Napalm Death are tearing up the (513) with support from Kataklysm, Toxic Holocaust, and Trap Them. That's the 13th. Then, one week later on the 21st, the No Fear Energy Tour hits Columbus- HARD. Lamb of God headlining to support Wrath, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, God Forbid, and Municipal Waste supporting. This is a can't-miss-show for me, because I love LoG and MW, and the rest will be fun to see live.

May rolls through, and hits us like a brick. Back to back are Paganfest and Testament, both in town, both amazing live shows. I love Testament, and I love the Paganfest lineup this year. Then the Thrash show to end all Thrash shows: German legends Kreator are playing over Exodus, Belphegor, and newcomers Warbringer. If you haven't checked them out, I give my highest recommendations to fans of old-school thrash records like Darkness Descends and Bonded by Blood. Their debut was one of my top picks for 2008, and their new album due out this year shouldn't disappoint.

Alright, barring some scheduling conflicts, I can hit most of the shows listed, and I'm psyched as hell for them. If any locals are reading this blog and thinking of attending, comment of what shows you'll be seeing. I may see you there.