Lazy Man and Money

  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
    • What I’m Doing Now
  • Consumer Protection
    • Is Le-vel Thrive a Scam?
    • Is Jusuru a Scam?
    • Is Beachbody’s Shakeology a Scam?
    • Is “It Works” a Scam?
    • Is Neora (Nerium) a Scam?
    • Youngevity Scam?
    • Are DoTERRA Essential Oils a Scam?
    • Is Plexus a Scam?
    • Is Jeunesse a Scam?
    • Is Kangen Water a Scam?
    • ViSalus Scam Exposed!
    • Is AdvoCare a Scam?
  • Contact
  • Archive

The Value of T-Shirts

October 28, 2011 by Lazy Man 7 Comments

[Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from my friend Kosmo who runs The Soap Boxers. A couple of days ago, he mentioned a business idea that I thought was brilliant. My linguistics degree (and Steven Wright fanaticism) required me to give him the stage to tell you about his idea.]

I wear t-shirts a lot.  Although I work for one of the largest financial services companies in the country, the company’s recent dress code changes make it possible for me to wear jeans and t-shirts nearly every day of the year.  That’s a huge fringe benefit for me, as I’ve always been a comfort over style sort of person.  You can have your 401(k) matching – I’ll take a relaxed dress code.

Psychological Benefits

I have a rather large stash of baseball themed t-shirts.  So many, in fact, that I separate them into a pile of Rockies-themed shirts and a pile of general baseball shirts.

There’s a stretch of months between October and March that lesser fans refer to as “the offseason”.  I refer to this time period as “free agency, Latin American leagues, and spring training”.  Nonetheless, it’s a time of the year when I can’t see my favorite players swinging a bat – a time of year when Kosmo swings dangerously close to clinical depression.

Instead of getting therapy or popping bubble wrap, I use my baseball shirts to get me through the dark days.  I’m very cold blooded and often dress in layers during the winter – t-shirt on the inside and sweatshirt on the outside.  More often than not, I grab a baseball t-shirt.  It might be twenty degrees below zero, but my 2007 Colorado Rockies National League Champions shirt will warm me up – every time I think of that magical run (well, until we hit the BoSox buzz saw), I get a smile on my face.

Disarm Your Enemies (And Kids, Too)

I also have an assortment of shirts that are just a bit odd. Several months back, a friend of my commented a shirt I was wearing.  It’s a long sleeved t-shirt featuring an image of a penguin.

“You must really like Linux,” he said.

Nah, I just like penguins.  I also have shirts from nearly every zoo I’ve been to, including two from my local favorite, the Niabi Zoo in the Quad Cities area (including a cool design with the Zebras painting stripes on the other animals).  I also have a shirt from Disney’s Animal Kingdom featuring A.A. Milne’s favorite bear front and center.  Mind you, I’m a fully grown adult – married with kids and a normal job.  I study serial killers in my spare time, for crying out loud.

Is there a method to my madness, beyond the psychological benefits mentioned above? Certainly.  How long could you stay angry at a guy wearing a Winnie the Pooh shirt?

If I’m going to be at an event with a lot of kids, I try to wear one of the fun shirts.  They often put a smile on little faces – and happy kids are much better to hang around with than grumpy kids.

I Make My Own T-shirts At Home

Well, not exactly.  I outsource the tricky stuff.

During lunch with a friend a few weeks ago, the topic of conversation turned to the Electoral College.  My mind tends to veer down strange paths every once in a while (occupational hazard of an aspiring fiction writer) – I suddenly looked up at Martin and asked:

“Why doesn’t the Electoral College have a marching band, glee club, or cheerleaders?  Pretty lame excuse for a college.”

That’s crazy talk, of course.  Everyone knows that the Electoral College is just a group of 538 people who vote for the president.  It’s not an actual academic institution with a campus and professors.

Times have changed.  As of today, Electoral College has cheerleaders, a glee club, and even a rowing club.  I actually paid good money to have a graphic designer develop a new logo for the Electoral College, registered a domain name, and create shirts on Zazzle.  There are a dozen designs to choose from, with more to be added in the future.  You can find them at ElectoralCollegeGear.com.

How many shirts will I sell?  At least two.  I’m planning to pick up a short sleeve Admissions Department shirt and a long sleeved Intramural Luge one (I’m a big fan of luge).  If I sell a few more, great.  If not, at least I’ll have some cool shirts to add to my collection.

Email (and share) This

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Related

Filed Under: Smart Purchases, Spending

SIGN UP NOW FOR MONEY TIPS AND A CHANCE TO WIN $25 MONTHLY

Comments

  1. Barb Friedberg says

    October 29, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    Is the mascot cute? I’d go for one with a bunny or maybe a teddy bear :)

    Reply
  2. Kosmo @ The Soap Boxers says

    October 30, 2011 at 7:18 am

    We have a faux-academic logo, but no cuddly mascot.

    Reply
  3. Paula @ Afford Anything says

    October 30, 2011 at 10:17 am

    “How long could you stay angry at a guy wearing a Winnie the Pooh shirt?” — excellent point :-) Maybe I’ll wear a cartoon shirt next time I have to talk to my tenants about something negative. :-)

    Reply
  4. Kosmo @ The Soap Boxers says

    October 31, 2011 at 6:12 am

    @ Paula – you might give it a shot. A cartoon shirt might make the tenants see you as a happy and reasonable person and not an ogre.

    Unless it’s a Shrek shirt. Then they may conclude that you are indeed an ogre :)

    Reply
    • Lazy Man says

      October 31, 2011 at 12:13 pm

      Having met Paula it’s hard to imagine putting her and ogre in the same sentence.

  5. Glen Craig says

    November 5, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    The idea of a suit and tie as work attire seems ridiculous to me. How does tying a silk string around your neck make for good work? Unless that know around your neck represents some kind of indentured slavery to your employer?

    When I had my cube job I longed for casual Fridays. I even hated taking a Friday off because I would miss out on jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Insane.

    And I think a little more Pooh (the bear, not the other kind) in our lives can only be a good thing!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Carnival Of Financial Camaraderie # 6 – - My University MoneyMy University Money says:
    November 5, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    […] Man and Money presents The Value of T-Shirts posted at Lazy Man and Money, saying, “You can have your 401(k) matching – I’ll take […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

As Seen In…

Join and Follow

RSS Feed
RSS Feed

Follow Me on Pinterest

Search The Site

Recent Comments

  • Joe on The Cost of Summer Camp (2023 Edition)
  • Lazy Man on Odds and Ends Update
  • Joe on Odds and Ends Update
  • Lazy Man on Odds and Ends Update
  • Josh on Odds and Ends Update

Please note that we may have a financial relationship with the companies mentioned on this site. We frequently review products or services that we have been given access to for free. However, we do not accept compensation in any form in exchange for positive reviews, and the reviews found on this site represent the opinions of the author.


© Copyright 2006-2023 · Perfect Plan Publishing, Inc. · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · A Narrow Bridge Media Design