A Moment

I'd like to take a moment to discuss my favorite article of clothing. It was a gift, from Alice and Kevin, directly from the DMZ. And yes, you guessed it, it is a white and red DMZ hat. For those who have not seen such a hat before, to clear up any confusion, it also has, in small letter running along the side of the brim: Demilitarized Zone. Often people mistake the hat as some new rap musician or some hip hat from the DMV to promote it's image. It is none of those, it is simply THE DMZ, as in the 38th parallel between North and South Korea which 100,000 armed troops stare straight ahead at one another, ready to go to war at any moment, in a location that is technically still "at war," but under a cease-fire.

I love the hat because it makes no sense to have a hat for the DMZ. Therein lies it's brilliance. Normally, hats connote something one roots for or supports, like say a sports team. Sometimes it is brand one likes, Lacoste or some skater brand. Sometimes it is a style, like a trucker hat, and sometimes, for older men, it is just something to block the sun.

But what are you to make of a hat that says DMZ? It perplexes politically minded individuals, who look at it and say, "Is that the DMZ, as in THE DMZ?" They don't really know what to say. Some laugh. Some find it brilliant. Others shrug and figure I must be some sort of problem to society. But in the end, it just is, in all of it's wonderful self contained glory, and isn't that really the way we all should be?