My favourite t-shirt is one that I can't wear everywhere I would like to, at least not without something covering it. It's a reminder to follow the guidance of Marcus Aurelius and above all...be a good person. It was hanging in a store in a local shopping centre and was produced by a local company. My thinking was help a local company, and that the slogan on the front resonated at that time. It still does.
Kelly and I went on a trip to NYC a couple of years back. I packed everything we needed in a military back pack that I bought at a base years ago. It was perfect because we could bolt from the airport and head right to a train to get to Manhattan without pulling a suitcase behind us. This trip was right in the midst of Donald Trumps presidency. I had completely forgotten that Trump was from the area, and while walking toward Central Park for our marathon march through the largest soccer field on earth we passed Trump Tower. Of course we had to go in.
I had emptied most of the contents of the back pack into our hotel room and carried it mostly so that we could have our hands free if we purchased every flavour from the M&M store. As we walked into Trump tower there were approximately four secret service standing inside as security. I'm not sure why they call themselves secret service and then let the secret out by printing it right on their uniform. Anyway, I got the eyeball as we walked through with all of the other tourists and I thought to myself, "Ugh, I wore a military backpack into Trump Tower!". No harm, one in particular watch me as I walked by but didn't stop us. There wasn't much imagination to the place. Trump store. Trump cafe. Trump restaurant. We left fairly quickly.
On the way out, one of the agents said something to me. Startled and unsure of what he said I apologized to prove I was Canadian and asked him to repeat himself. He yelled out "I love your shirt!". I was immediately confused and looked down and realized which one that I had on. Slightly embarassed I yelled back "Thank you!". "Where did you get it?" he asked. Of course then I had to tell him I got it in a little store in Canada. At which point he hollered out, "It's awesome, I really like it!". One last wave and a maritime nod, and we were out of there. Kelly and I laughed and laughed for a few minutes as we walked toward our destination. I hadn't intended on wearing that shirt that day, and specifically to that particular place. The shirt was from a company called Be Kind. The slogan on the front of the shirt....#DontBeADick.