Seeing Red

Ah, the good old days! A brief glimpse...

In my school days dress codes were in full swing. No jeans - period! Guys had to wear slacks or khakis - with a belt and shirts tucked in. Their hair had to be cut above their shirt collar. Girls had to wear skirts - knee length, please. And I don't think tank or crop tops even existed. If they had they would surely have been banned in school.

Another little aside - I was pre-Title IX (Look it up). Basically it was a law that addressed certain inequalities in education and even sports. To me it meant certain classes and activities were not available to me. At my school the only way girls could participate in competitive sports was to be a member of the marching band ( musician, majorette or rockette ), and take the field at half-time, or be a cheerleader. I was a cheerleader.

School colors were big! Ours were blue and gold. However, traditionally each senior class was allowed to choose "senior colors" they could display on special occasions throughout their senior year - such as at the last seasonal game of sporting events. My class chose red and white. However, in my senior year the "powers that be" declared that if you were wearing a school uniform ( ie. athlete, band member or cheerleader ) you were representing the entire school and as such could only display school colors - blue and gold - no senior colors.

What??? So unfair!!! So at our cheerleader dinner ( also a tradition and coincidentally that night it was at my house ) before our last football game of the season we literally put our heads together to come up with a way around this new ruling. What we came up with was the five senior members of our squad would dye our hair bright red. (to be fair my mother, chef and hostess of this dinner, had no part in this decision. But she did feel it was an amusing but harmless solution ( an opinion she would later have to revisit )!

That night sitting in the bleachers to watch the game my parents heard a loud gasp behind them as we cheerleaders came on the field. They turned around to fine our cheerleading coach seated behind them, hand to mouth and eyes wide with horror! The first clue as to what was to follow.

Who knew a little hair dye could cause such an uproar? Come Monday morning we were suspended from school and a debate ensued as to whether we should be allowed to graduate with our class! What???!! Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and we were allowed back in school and eventually permitted to graduate as planned. Whew! Really???

As they say - the times they are a-changing! So grandkids, what are your thoughts about your school days? And has your perspective been "colored" at all against the backdrop of my days? Please let me hear from each of you. I can't wait!

Love and hugs, Gigi


Comments

  1. AdminJanuary 15, 2025 at 11:35 AM

    Wow! What I wouldn't give for a picture of the suspended reds! This reminds me that I rarely got in trouble, but when I did it was for even less good reasons. There was a period in roughly 7th or 8th grade, can't remember, just know it was Mrs. Young's class, where I was speaking in a Kermit voice so often it became my default and I couldn't shut if off unless I was really focused. And I'd been told many times to focus and make sure I didn't do it. And then I answered a question as Kermit and Mrs. Young had finally had it, and I was sent to the office and my mom was called. I don't really remember the outcome other than it being easier to stop being Kermit after that and the people in the office thinking that I was such a nice boy it might just be that I had some sort of mental disorder, but I've always thought it must a difficult job to be the parent who gets a call saying, 'we need to talk, your son can't stop speaking like Kermit The Frog'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AmyKJanuary 16, 2025 at 9:06 AM

    Wow! You almost got suspended for dying your hair?! And to think - Nixon wears crop tops every day and Ripley shaved the side of her head a few years back. I guess they would have also been suspended!

    ReplyDelete
  3. NixonJanuary 16, 2025 at 9:11 AM

    One day in 8th grade I was kicked out of math for wearing a crop top and I had to call Amy to bring me a hoodie. Thank god she was close by.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2025 at 3:54 PM

    When I was in seventh grade I wore Kyle's raggedy shirt with holes to school and got dress coded for showing too much skin. I was forced to wear a very oversized shirt from the cross country team for the rest of the day. I did end up getting to keep the shirt though so it was a win in the end. -Mars

    ReplyDelete

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