Have you seen these new Men’s Skinny Suits, pants and jackets? They are everywhere. Who’s behind this? Who is dressing Men these days? Hey, don’t start! I guess I am old-fashioned or Old School. The young women in my family say I am out-of-date.

So be it. I am living in the past, but I know what I like and what makes me feel good. I guess now I have become a fashion critic because of the images of Men I see wearing skinny clothes. The last draw was when I saw a local sportscaster reporting Sports wearing a Skinny Jacket. hahahahaaaaa A rough and tumble Black actor wears these outfits also when he is doing his credit card commercials. I suppose it’s a generational thing. I don’t have the body for Skinny Outfits. My gut would probably look pretty damn ridiculous protruding from one. But even if I did have the body for one of these pretty outfits, I would not wear them.

I grew up getting a suit each year for Easter. As I got older I had many sport coats and dark suits for special occasions. Even now I have dress suits and a tux, but you can bet our last dollar my apparel is full. There is nothing better than a great cut, great hanging, and tailored full body suit. I’m talking Old Style Stacy “Adamish” and Steve Harvey type suits. When did men besides those on a runway or on stage start donning Skinny Suits? A man in my family wears one occasionally to the astounding pleasure of his wife. She proudly post images of him on Facebook after she dresses him up. I just have to laugh. I wonder which suits and pants women really prefer? I like my pants fashionably baggy hanging just right. I see that you can get Skinny Outfits for Men at greatly reduced prices. Are these outfits not selling? Talk to me women and Men. What’s your opinion of this clothing line? Hahahaaaaaa Laughing all the way to past the Fashion Police.

There’s that word again, trump. But this time not Trump! Ha Ha I was reading an article in a local town newspaper that made me laugh and cringe at the same time. My heart was kinda aching. A pious member of the community penned the article about Overcoming Biases. The writer referenced a study that said the human brain categorizes people within the first second after seeing a face. It said our brains typically separate people according to groups typically in the “us vs. them” category. The article further stated that even infants as young as 3 months showed a preference for their own racial group over a different racial group.

The article writer related two times in his life that pointed out the subject of his writing. The first time was when he was a kid and  would bring home some of his Black basketball buddies and once his two year-old niece was there. When the little-girl saw his dark-skinned friend she began to cry. He said it was the first time she had seen a Black man in person.  He said he felt bad for his friend and was a little embarrassed. Now to me that’s so funny, The Black Boogey Man comes to visit. LOL But at the same time it makes me sad because in my world I have been there many times. If kids have not seen anything like you before, they freak out. It can be a different skin color the same way it can be a big pair of glasses hanging from your face. My 2 year-old granddaughter just ain’t having it when I try to be close to her with my bespectacled face. Women especially take note when kids don’t like you. It’s the same way when dogs don’t like a certain person. The second time the writer stated was when he visited another country and came across a little girl of color who was happily splashing around in a tub in her village. The toddler’s joy turned to terror the moment she saw the White-faced man. I tell ya, you don’t forget experiences like these, when they happen to you. I have written extensively here and many other places about our superficial differences that really don’t amount to anything but our silly perceptions.

In my current neighborhood which is about 97 percent Caucasian,  I experienced something I thought was so awakening and will never forget. A few years ago, I was cautiously walking just a street away from my house when I encountered a beautiful elderly White lady sitting in the driveway of her home. The wonderful lady’s had a great smile. She also had dark circles around her sparkling eyes, just below her wild untamed hair making her look like Gomez Addams’s mother “Grandmama.” But she was still beautiful. She was sitting in the driveway and was obviously suffering from dementia. She was smiling, raising her hand waving and saying hello over and over to everyone she encountered. I smiled and got ready for my encounter with her. But when she saw me her hand went down and the hellos stopped as she fearfully gazed at me in silence. Suddenly she was just not sure. LOL I was actually hurt that even through her dementia she saw that I was different. Her bias inclinations surfaced above her dementia and trumped it. That pervasive word again – trump. So it’s all of us…..including me with all our biases. And the potential is quite high…..especially when the Boogey Man stares you in the face.  A scary unfamiliar Boogey Man is waiting, credentialed or not. Boo!!!

(The following Blog is the opinion of Sleepless G. Reading this Blog might cause headaches or acute exasperation. Continued reading might impair your taste and understanding. Not reading this Blog does not make you above the law. Be particularly alert to feelings of disparity or just plain confusion)

I have kept my mouth shut on new Red Sox announcer David O’Brien….until now. I know some are probably saying I should continue my silence, But NO!!! Let me first say, “Dave O’Brien is a competent announcer and nice person.”  But did Dave O’Brien bring anything special to the position formerly held by Don Orsillo? That’s a Big NO! Yes, I know most of you Love him now. Most of you probably Love Eck also, (Dennis Eckersley). (Give him some CHEESE!) (No Gas!) hahahaaaaa

Yesterday during the Red Sox’s lost to Toronto O’Brien, Eckersley, and Steve Lyons were all in it. They were churning away. You could not shut those guys up! I’m thinking the public will fall in Love with this trio. Eckersley as always talking about himself, Lyons follows and Obrien joins in. To me they are so distracting. They are a bit too much entertainment for me. I wanna watch and enjoy the game, not their antics and blabber continuously. Too much Color guys!!!

OK, back to Orsillo’s replacement. He’s OK, and just OK. I am still not quite sure what NESN or Red Sox management was trying to do or prove. They had something against Orsillo or maybe they just didn’t like his laugh. Or maybe they thought there was a need for “vanilla” change???  I know one thing, management certainly did not care what the fans thought. The Red Sox Nation is one of the “few” fan-bases that pay exorbitant prices for baseball tickets, but they had no say in keeping the well-meshed, lovable team of Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy together. If I didn’t like the Red Sox so much, I would stop watching. When Remy calls it a career, I might turn down the sound on my TV and listen to Joe Castiglione on the radio. If Joe is still working.

Listening to 9 innings of baseball for approximately 160 games on TV is taxing and asking a lot. It’s not like the 1 or 2 games I actually go to each season or the 3 away-games I might travel to. I’m just not into sport announcer entertainers, the same way I am not into celebrity-journalist. I am into sports, the players, and the team. Before the Red Sox, a baseball game on my TV was just background noise. Now it seems baseball on my TV is the Dave, Dennis and Steve Show. I’m sure they’ll do great, but Stay focused guys.