I'm putting my Christmas wish-list together, and I'm stuck. I don't know whether to ask for a "New York City" T-shirt
like the one John Lennon actually wore in the famous picture or the T-shirt that shows
the famous picture of John Lennon wearing that "New York City" T-shirt.
I mean, you can make a case for both. I think it's probably cooler to wear the same one that Lennon wore — that way I can cut off the sleeves and be exactly like John Lennon. The problem is that there's nothing on it that says,
HEY! John Lennon wore a T-shirt like this, with "New York City" on it. So people who haven't seen the picture won't know why I'm wearing a shirt with "New York City" written on the front. In Boston these days, that's not a particularly safe proposition. More importantly, though, if people don't get the reference, the whole point of wearing the T-shirt is lost. After all, the shirt isn't cool because it says "New York City." It's cool because John Lennon wore it in a famous picture.
Now the other shirt sends a clearer message: here's John Lennon wearing a T-shirt with "New York City" on it. And for all you Bostonians who want to clobber me for wearing a shirt with "New York City" on it, I'll point out that
I'm not endorsing New York City,
John Lennon is. So there. That's what the shirt with the picture of John Lennon wearing the "New York City" T-shirt has going for it. In the end, though, if I get this T-shirt, I come across as nothing more than a run-of-the-mill fan of John Lennon, whereas with the other shirt, I'm actually dressing like him.
The problem is this, in a nutshell: It's not the acknowledgment that Lennon wore a T-shirt with "New York City" on it that is cool — it's going out and finding that same T-shirt and wearing it myself. But if I'm the only person who knows I'm wearing a perfect
simulacrum of John Lennon's "New York City" T-shirt, then there's no point in doing it. It's a waste to be cool if no one else notices. It's like a tree going to all kinds of trouble to fall in the woods, just to make a sound nobody hears. I mean, I suppose I could go around telling people about it, on the train, in the office, in the grocery line:
Excuse me, sir/madam: did you know that John Lennon wore a T-shirt like this? But that's not really cool, either.
(sigh!)
I don't see a way out of this dilemma, except maybe to ask for the two T-shirts, hope I get both, and wear them on alternate days. Or maybe I could wear Lennon's T-shirt, put Bobo the Chimp in the T-shirt with Lennon on it (do they make it in extra-small?), and send him down the street ahead of me,
incognito, to clue people in to the significance of
my shirt. I dunno. I don't see any way out of this, and I welcome any insights or suggestions.
