The Case of "The Chucks"

This story comes about after a wild conversation I had with one of those annoying dudes you always hear blaring from a microphone telling you to "get in the bar, do a shot, get drunk" and then they sing along with whatever song is playing on the P.A. I know allll of these guys on Bourbon street. Call it a occupational hazard, but working at a radio station, I've come to know these fellas over my 4 years here in the Crescent City. And to give them credit, they are not all bad, and it's really ridiculous work. For the radio station I do what they do for 1, count it ONE hour each week, and that's enough to make me wanna take a bullet to the head. I can't stand asking a crowd to yell on the count of 3, but for 8 hours a night? OUCH.

Anyway, a group of about 3 or so of these cheerleaders all got excited and told me to run over to the DJ booth because they had something they needed to show me. (Some backstory here, I work at a country station, this is one of those extra loud cowboy bars with girls dancing on the bars and a mechanical bull). They were sooooo proud that one of their own had purchased a piece of clothing that I frequently wear. A pair of black Converse All-Stars. They expected, what? A high-five?

Now, let me explain what this guy looked like. LOTS, and I mean LOTS of muscle. A very tight LUCKY BRAND (the letters were that bold) v-neck t-shirt sticking to his pecs, some sort of baggy jean, a very gelled and sculpted faux-hawk, and his brand new sparkling chucks. Oh, and the GRIN!!! He was so proud of those new chucks.

And here comes the best part. The reason WHY he bought these shoes. I think this is why dudes should sometimes speak less. "Yeah, I don't really like 'em, but that dude in Fall Out Boy wears 'em. They are totally my favorite band in the whole world."

Oh. My. God.

Wow. I mean, just, WOW.

Well, I guess you can't argue that point. As witnessed in Evidence A:


It took me a second or two to gain my composure to get up a good response that wouldn't completely offend him, and I just said, "Hey man, Fall Out Boy is great and all, but don't go running up to people and telling them that's the reason you're wearing those."

Hey, at least I can save him some embarrassment in the future, right?

What's funny is, it prompted me to wake up and actually research who were the first rock stars to wear them. Couldn't find that, but Wikipedia had a pretty neat entry below:


"Since the turn of the century, especially the last 2 years, Converse have become increasingly popular, with a growing market. Originally seen as being worn by those in to a rock music scene, the market is growing to various, younger scenes, whether it be based on a sub-culture (rock still being popular, especially with the growing emo scene) the Chuck Taylors are becoming more popular with hip hop scenes, pop music scene and fashion in general. Many Chuck Taylor owners are those who have owned the shoes in the past, and most own more than one pair, as recently many more colors are now produced than before. They're now hugely popular with indie culture. "

I'll take that. I'd also like to think that it was The Ramones. I mean, wouldn't we all? At least for that kid's sake?
For the record, my Chucks go everywhere with me, they are nice and worn out, with a little hole in the toe, probably time for a new pair. I even pitched kickball in them:



And I'll offer this vid as Evidence B. Long live the Chucks. And Fall Out Boy? Well, I hear that Pete kid is dating Ashlee Simpson now, so uh, well, I don't even know where I was going with that. Good luck Fall Out Boy. (They are in my iPod, for the record :) )