I decided to wear a shirt by the band, the Smoking Popes. On the first out of uniform day of my sophomore year, I would go where no punk rocker had gone before.
There were a number of oddly named bands to choose from: Sponge Tunnel, No Empathy, 88 Fingers Louie, Los Crudos, Trenchmouth, Naked Raygun, 8 Bark, the Bollweevils, etc. And since the bassist from Green Day wore a Screeching Weasel shirt onstage at Woodstock ‘94, they were out as well. Green Day had already sold out so if you wore a Green Day shirt you were instantly a poser. When it came to shirts, the more obscure and local the better. If you were into punk rock, it was your only shot at finding like-minded punks to hang out with. This was the mid 90’s in the suburbs of Chicago so there were a lot Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews Band, and Pearl Jam shirts. No matter what music you listened to, most kids chose to wear a concert shirt. You only had one shot and if you blew it you’d have to wait weeks before you could make amends. They would go around at lunch or in homeroom, charge you a dollar and on a specific day you got to come sans uniform. The band needed new uniforms, the theater department needed to rent costumes for the spring musical, I’m pretty sure I gave money to the Pro-Life Club to buy paint for their protest signs. Once, maybe twice a month there would be a fundraiser for a particular club. If you didn’t go to a Catholic School, this is how it worked. It’s your chance to show what you are all about.
The out of uniform day is the Catholic school equivalent of a prison tattoo.
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