MetaChat - A friend gave me an Obama T-shirt.

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16 August 2008

A friend gave me an Obama T-shirt. A lot of people come up to me while wearing it and say they like my shirt. I usually just smile and say "thank you," although I was wondering if there were a better way to parlay this into a conversation. Your thoughts welcome.

post by: grouse at: 00:53 | 14 comments

"Hey, thanks! You're registered to vote, right? No? Are you from around here? Ah, well go to this website and it will tell you how to register." [obviously, find applicable website for your state beforehand]

posted by desjardins 16 August | 01:06

Hell, carry around a bunch of voter-registration forms.

posted by box 16 August | 01:40

"We can DO THIS!" Raise fist in power salute... ask them where they are voting.

posted by Meatbomb 16 August | 03:09

"I wear it as an expression of our common Muslim faith! Thanks for asking."

posted by stilicho 16 August | 04:44

"Country second"

posted by matteo 16 August | 04:49

"I don't know who this guy is, I just thought it was ironic."

posted by cmonkey 16 August | 06:41

"Oh, I just wear this for all the trim it gets me."

posted by ColdChef 16 August | 08:18

Does anyone still say "trim?" Did anyone ever?

posted by ColdChef 16 August | 08:19

Talking to yourself, chef?

posted by matteo 16 August | 08:25

Did anyone ever?

They actually did.

But this was back in the age of skinny ties and actors in the White House.

posted by jason's_planet 16 August | 11:01

I think I will try to go with desjardin's suggestion, although I have given responses similar to Meatbomb's and cmonkey's in the past.

I had to look up "trim" in Urban Dictionary, although I had a strong suspicion that's what it meant.

posted by grouse 16 August | 11:53

I use old slang, dagnabbit.

posted by ColdChef 16 August | 13:06

I get that with my Obama gear, too. I do keep forms in my car so I can ask people if they're registered, but I'm in NY so it's not as big a deal here. As our governor said, "A candidate that would help John McCain win New York would probably be...a resurrection."[1] (and I don't think Jesus is interested in running for office).
There's a whole closet industry in Buffalo based on diy obama gear. All over the east and west sides every corner store has a wall covered in hanging shirts. They tend to be a lot more political in a historical context than the official gear. A lot of shirts with him and MLK on them, for example.

A friend of mine, who lives in Niagara Falls which tends to skew oddly conservative compared to NY as a whole, gets the opposite. People see her stickers or shirts and corner her with the latest hot email forward info and so on.

[1]I was listening to that speech live on NPR while driving home one day and almost drove off the road laughing.

posted by kellydamnit 16 August | 16:00

I've seen a ton of bootleg Obama t-shirts lately, too. And, yeah, lots of MLK. I'd totally buy an Obama/Malcolm X shirt, and I hardly ever wear shirts with stuff printed on 'em. Hmm.

Is L'Trimm (y'know, 'Cars That Go Boom') a reference to trim?

posted by box 16 August | 16:32

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