Picture this - I’m sitting at a light in my SUV and I see a group of young men trying to cross the street about a block up from Seacrets - NOT AT A CROSSWALK! Coastal Highway is a parking lot - all three lanes are full and moving at a snail’s pace. There is a break in the lane closest to where the boys are standing; they decide to take their chance to cross the highway, one lane at a time. They make it across two lanes - just as the light turns yellow. In the inside left lane a big, loud F-150 truck with a huge American flag flying way up high punched it to get through the light before it turned red. The boys heard the truck but they were already in the middle of the road. Most of them made it to the median except one; this young man wasn’t moving very fast because his pants were restricting his movements - they were down past his butt which put the crotch right at his knees, so he wasn’t going anywhere fast. The driver of the truck and his passengers were laughing and whooping it up at the sight of this young man trying to run for the median. Just a few seconds seemed like a long time as his friends reached out to safely pull him from in front of the truck. The truck did not even slow down; not even a little bit. All I could hear from my vantage point was the boys screaming, “Jump! Jump! OMG!”
    This so-called fashion or fad originated in prison. I wonder if these boys who wear this ‘fashion’ even know that. Some people think it was a sign from one inmate to another that they were ready for a sexual encounter - not true. It came about because when you entered the jail, inmates were given a set of jail PJs with no belt and their shoestrings were removed so they had no way of holding their pants up and they ended up falling down. No designer or fad, just a jail thing (true). Why would a person want to pick up on a jailhouse look?
    Stiletto heels. A few months back a young lady in New York stepped out of her apartment to head for a night club. One of her stiletto heels got stuck in a hole in the steel steps of her apartment building. She fell to her death. Try walking on the Boardwalk or in the sand at Seacrets with them on. I was watching Kevin Poole play out on the deck at Fager’s Island one night as a young girl came down the steps, took two steps across the floor, when her stiletto heel got stuck between two of the boards and she fell flat on her face. Her friends had to help her up and pull the heel out from between the boards. She laughed it off and put her heel back on, and up the steps she ran. She could have really hurt herself very badly. She left - maybe she did. I own quite a few pair, love them and wear them all the time; but I do carry another pair of semi-flats just in case I have to go to the grocery store or party on a deck ... just saying.
    Flip flops. Many schools have banned students from wearing flip flops. There have been so many injuries from students falling up and down the steps as the flip flops give them no support and they can easily lose their footing. Some students had to wear their gym shoes for the rest of the day when their flip flops came completely apart as they were trying to get to their next class in a hurry. Try running in flip flops - you will see what I’m talking about.
    Tank tops. For so many years this shirt has been a staple in a lot of mens summer wardrobes. Back in the ‘70s they were nick-named ‘wife beaters.’ As an abused wife by my first husband, I find this term very offensive and ask that NO ONE ever use this term again. If you are an abused woman, I know you understand. If you are near anyone who uses this term, ask them to stop. This term originated in jail also; need I say more?
    You can share your great tips or comments by contacting me at lindasears53@aol.com