Ernie Tee Shirt

This evening, Aimee was watching one of her favorite shows, John and Kate plus eight, a TV show about a married couple with a set of twins and sextuplets. During this episode, the whole family visited Sesame Place, an amusement park in Pennsylvania. Due to the fact I am currently reading a book about a Professor's years of experience studying baboons in the wild of Africa, watching the show (for a moment) brought to mind a childhood experience involving summer camp and an Ernie Tee Shirt.

The book is tiled A Primate's Memoir and documents the author's years in Kenya studying baboons as a graduate student. The chapters alternate between describing observations of a troop of baboons and the wildly different culture in Africa than that of his life in the United States.

How does this all relate?

When I was around six years old, I went to a summer camp. On one fateful day, my mother laid out an Ernie Tee Shirt to wear. To three-year olds at the time, Ernie and Bert were bigger than The Beatles. For a six or seven year old, wearing an Ernie and Bert Tee Shirt was like break dancing at a funeral...a major faux pas. Had I sported a Star Wars or Dukes of Hazard Tee Shirt, I would have been safe. I didn't know any better. All I knew was that I needed to wear a shirt, period. Actually, had my mother not laid out any clothes, I probably would have been fine leaving the house in just socks and sneakers. I would probably have been more comfortable anyway (during that hot summer) with the exception of sitting on the Yellow School Bus seat.

Anyway, I was the lowest baboon on the totem pole that day. I was encircled by mini-baboons (I mean children) and ridiculed without mercy. I actually didn't even know I had a big target (I mean "Ernie") on my chest until I got on the school bus. This lasted the whole day. I found this puzzling, as I never actually paid attention to what other kids wore. I only noticed pretty girls and kids who smelled bad. That day taught me that that you have to pay attention what to the clothes you wear...I finally caught on at some point..I think it was when I reached 30..maybe a few years before . After that day, I bid farewell to my Ernie Tee Shirt. Good-bye, old friend. We had a good Go of it, you and me. No disrespect to you, my brothah. It's just the times, man. You dig? I'll keep rockin if you keep rockin. Good luck, Broseph.