What Was I Thinking???

Buying this shirt - one of many "What Was I Thinking" moments

Admit it. You’ve had one of those moments – we all have.

We did or said something that seemed completely lucid, rational and sane at the time, yet in hindsight we ultimately shake our heads and ask ourselves, “What was I thinking???”

I’m not talking about major life-changing screw-ups.

No base jumping off the CN Tower in Toronto, or trying to knock off a Vegas casino or smuggling endangered animals into the Ukraine or getting a Mike-Tyson-face tattoo. None of that.

I’m talking about little “what was I thinking ” moments such as eating raw blow fish on a business trip, buying steel-belted radials for your wife’s anniversary or cutting your own hair.

My experiences in this category are legion, including the Mickey Mouse t-shirt I bought [see photo insert].

Let me preface that I’m a grown, college-educated man with two advanced degrees who worked for more than 10 years as a cynical journalist. Having said that – I LOVE Disney World.

As a kid growing up I always wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom but my folks could never afford to take their family of seven.

So when my wife and I got married, we decided to honeymoon with Mickey and the gang. It was great. Our memories of that trip were so great, that three years ago we went back with our two daughters who were roughly ages four and seven respectively – perfect ages to experience the magic of Disney.

Because I was never allowed to get souvenirs when my family traveled as a kid, I always buy those cheapo trinkets for our kids now – regardless of the fact that it’s overpriced junk. One of the things that we purchased on this last trip to Disney was a t-shirt for each of us.

We each picked out our own, mine is the one pictured.

In the Disney store, its styling seemed pretty “cool” (although I have not thought of myself as cool for years and have never actually been cool). The faded print, the iconic image and non-flashy color made me think the shirt was ironic enough to be hip – like all the silk-screen tees the cool kids are wearing these days. Apparently, the more ironic or uncool a piece of clothing or cultural artifact is – the cooler it is.

So, I envisioned my wife and I dining at a trendy DC eatery, and we’d fit right in with the hipster ambiance thanks to my ultra-ironic, faded Mickey tee (sigh).

Truth be told, I’ve never worn the shirt – not even around the house or running on our treadmill. Every time I take it out of the drawer I look at it and realize that the only men who can successfully pull off wearing something like this are select apex males along the lines of Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban or Mark Walberg – (maybe only dudes named Mark can wear Disney-themed apparel) – or a prepubescent boy in elementary school.

I think it’s in the Official All-Male Handbook, that every other Y-chromosome must steer clear of wearing Mickey Mouse emblazoned across their chest for fear of forfeiting their man card.

I guess the only thing to do with the shirt now would be to use it as an oil rag in our garage, which would be awesome (if I only knew how to change the oil in my car on my own) or actually use any of the Craftsman tools I own.

Luckily we do have a baby coming in a few months, and I know from experience, that you can never have to many spit-up cloths laying around.

Question: Do you have a “What was I thinking moment?”

========================================================

Tor Constantino is a former journalist, bestselling author and current PR guy who lives near Washington, DC. He has worked for Fortune 500 companies, CBS Radio, Clear Channel Radio, ABC-TV and CBS-TV affiliates. He has authored his first non-fiction book “A Question of Faith”  and he blogs regularly at www.thedailyretort.com.

 

Share this Post:

3 thoughts on “What Was I Thinking???”

  1. Somewhere among my treasures I have one of those touristy New York City coffee mugs. For a while, I actually drank out of it. Now I don’t even know where I put it. After all, I LIVE in New York City. I like it here, but I don’t need to be reminded of it every time I drink coffee.

    1. Double posting to say that if you don’t want your Mickey Mouse tee shirt I will happily take it off your hands. I’m weird that way. I love crazy tee shirts. I’m a woman, though, so I think I can get away with being eccentric that way better than a guy can.

  2. Maybe, just in case, you should name your soon to be born male child, Mark? HA HA Very funny, Tor. I have a few of these tee shirts that are now worn when I paint or decide to color my hair.

Comments are closed.