I own a number of hooded sweatshirts.

I have worn them for decades. In fact I recall one I had as a toddler which is interesting because it means my memory is pretty cood considering that remembering that means my memory still recalls things five and a half decades old.

In fact, as I write this I have one on. It is actually pink and says "Pennsylvania" acrosss the front and I snagged it at a PA Turnpike rest stop. I was cold and needed it and that was the color that they had on sale.

Hooded sweatshirts are pretty good for keeping a guy warm on chilly days and seeing I work outside an awful lot I wear one quite a bit.

While I don't really wear them too often when I am not at work, nonetheless I do grab one from time to time when I am home. Because I am generally in and out of buildings I seldom have to pull the hood up. Unlike other people I actually use the hood for the purpose it was put there. It keeps my head warm.

However, when the hood goes up when I go outside, it comes down when I go inside. There are two reasons for this and both reasons are different. The first reason is that I do not want to overheat when I'm inside. This is something that people that are outside a lot are aware of. When you go inside your adapt and when you return to the cold the hood doesn't feel as warm.

The second reason is that when I enter a business I do not want to make the clerks there nervous. A lot of businesses have signs requesting that you pull down your hood and remove your sunglasses before entering. It's their business and their rules and it makes sense. I do this without a second thought. It's simply good manners.

I wouldn't think of entering a business wearing, for example, a ski mask and I try and make it a point not to wear sunglasses and/or a hood when I go inside a business either.

In fact when I talk to just about anyone I remove my sunglasses. Again, it's good manners. It lets them see who they are talking to. This holds double when I find myself dealing with the law enforcement community. I have very few problems dealing with policemen. I attribute this to basic good manners and displaying basic courtesy.

I'll admit that I do a little play acting when I deal with policemen. I make it a point to let them see me take off my shades so they notice that I am doing it to be polite to them. I suppose if I am wearing a hood I'd pull that down, too. It makes the officer a little more relaxed because he then thinks you have little to hide.

An awful lot of the 'gangsta wannabes' think they look a lot more intimidating in a hoodie and sunglasses and I suppose they do. Looking intimidating is a part of gangsta life I suppose and a hoodie with the hood up and a pair of shades can be that as it does disguise a person and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that disguises are the tool of armed robbers and other thugs.

Nobody is telling anyone how to dress. It's your choice but when you look like a thug and are going to be treated by one. When you dress like a thug and get treated poorly you have nobody to blame but yourself. After all, you made the choice to dress that way. It's that simple.

This is not a black or white thing it is simple human nature.

Incidentally I am getting tired of that portion of the black community telling everyone about how different they are. The only part of the black community that tells people how different they are is the part that makes themselves different. These are the ones you see going to Fat Al Sharpton's hateful little meetings.

The members of the black community I know and deal with are generally doing the same thing that I am. They get up in the morning and get dressed and go to work so they can take care of their families. They couldn't care less about people like Fat Al and Calypso Louie and you never see these people attending their meetings.

For one thing, because they are no different than anybody else, they are just too busy raising their kids to have the time for such foolishness. They have more important things to do.


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One of the things I would do if I was in Zimmerman's shoes is to buy a hoodie and a pair of mirror sunglasses and attend one of Fat Al's hate speeches. They'd never spot me and if a VERY close friend could snap a picture or two it would be a hoot to put on line.

Getting caught would be doubtful because nobody would recognize me in a hoodie and shades.

Sometimes the best place to sleep is in the lion's mouth.



my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/