T-Shirts: Thinning the Herd

At this evening’s Fishes & Loaves 5k Race, there will be a t-shirt exchange table at which participants are invited to bring their clean, not-too-battered race shirts and exchange them for someone else’s. More to the point, it seems to me, those shirts that are unclaimed in the end will be donated to charity.

This wonderful idea got me thinking about my own “collection” of t-shirts, which at this point in my life, represents a significant part of my overall wardrobe. Rare is the day when I am not pimping, or declaring to the world, my past participation in one run or another.

My experience is similar to that of most, I suspect… after registering for my very first run (the Spring Forward 15k in April 2005) I was so-o-o-o excited to receive my race shirt. Following completion of the event, I proudly sported it in a fashion that prompted those whom I came across to inquire: “You did what?” The shirt and the conversations it generated opened a whole new world of interest to me.

Now, over two years later, I find my closet bursting with red, white, orange, green, white, blue t-shirts with a myriad of designs and logos, some that I wear with a high degree of frequency and others I rarely slip on, but keep nonetheless. It occurs to me, as incredibly challenging as it will be for my pack-rat instinct to embrace, to separate out those t-shirts that I no longer want (need?) to keep.

Judging from the mountain of t-shirts in my closet, it is definitely time to thin the t-shirt herd...

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!