Really Bad Trends

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        It’s funny how someone can do something and develop followers or people that will do the exact same thing.  It doesn’t matter how stupid or cool the thing really is, if the person who did it was respected, others will follow.  This statement can be tied to fashion quite easily and I’m sure everyone knows what I’m talking about.  Remember acid-wash jeans?  How about that really crappy haircut Brad got on Home Improvement?  You know, that crappy ponytail thing on the top of your head and the lower part was kept shaved.  I didn’t get that haircut, but I know a couple of the “bad boys” at my school that did. 

        Thinking about trends, I am reminded of a time when I was about ten years old.  When I was at church, one of my friends discovered a way to get instant and pain-free battle damage.  The process goes like this.  First, you grip your chin as hard as you can and hold it for about a minute.  Then, as soon as you let go, flick the tip of your chin and you will develop an instant bruise.  No pain required.  Man, that was the coolest thing! 
       
        Well, I did it and went to school the next day and everyone thought I had been in a fight the night before.  It was awesome because I was respected.  The kids lived in fear of me, they were like, “Stay away from Brandon…he starts fights.”  Well, me being the type of person I am, I told someone my secret during recess.  Sure enough, they tried it, then told someone else, who then tried it, then they told someone else who tried it and so on.  Well, when we came back to class, the teacher thought everyone had been in one massive fight.  You know, the type of fight where the punches are aimed at exactly the same spot on everyone’s chin.  I realized something that day.  I came to school as the “bad boy”, I also came to school as the “trend-setter” and like all trends, in order to really be a trend, others have to follow it.  I came to school that day as the “bad boy” and I left as part of a sick and twisted cult following. 

        This whole experience made me question the whole “bad boy” image.  A person can get all of the ear piercings and tattoos they want, but that doesn’t make them a bad boy.  I think that a true bad boy that projects the image of a good kid is at least three times more intimidating.  If I saw a guy wearing a cardigan and corduroy pants kick some puppy…man, that gives me the willies.  He’d be like the bad boy in disguise, and someone like him could be anywhere.  That, to me, causes more fear than seeing some guy with a thorny rose tattooed on his nose.  Just because someone would destroy their body, doesn’t mean that they are necessarily a bad person, just that they have bad taste.