The need to explain

Over the weekend, I got a few strange looks. I didn’t realize why and then it hit me—my shirt read “KOK.”

I want to take a second to explain that my t-shirts are not innuendos. KOK stands for Kilroy’s On Kirkwood. It’s a bar in my college town that gives out free shirts every Thursday and on Saturdays during football and basketball season when they have breakfast club.

I’d also like to say that I’m not an alcoholic either. It was a free shirt every week. What college kid is going to pass up a deal like that?

I’ve never thought anything of wearing these shirts in public because everyone in Indiana typically knows about the bar. Also roaming around Chicago, I never got a second glance because a lot of IU students are from the area or migrate up there after graduation. I’ve even been on the beach in Florida and saw a guy walk past in a Roy’s tee.

Kilroy’s/Roy’s/KOK had marketing to college kids down to an art. They had drink specials every day of the week—$1 Mondays, $2 Tuesdays, $3 Wednesdays and Thursdays, $4 Fridays and Saturdays were the only days without a drink deal, but that was still only $5 for a large tumbler full of your favorite drink. Roy’s is known for their endless flavors of Long Islands—my favorite being a water Long Island, which sounds awful but it actually tastes delicious. Again, I promise I’m not an alcoholic.

But on $3 Thursdays, more commonly known as “three dolla holla,” they handed out the infamous shirts. Every week was different, but on occasion, they love to play up the sexual innuendo joke. Some weeks are tame, just saying “Roy’s” on the front and placing an advertisement on the back (the ads cost about $500, so that’s how they’re able to give shirts away for free). Some have a type of liquor on them. When a local brewery had a tap takeover at Kilroy’s one weekend, the shirts had the Upland symbol in the O of KOK. But, every now and then, they love to show their sense of humor. Two that come to mind can't really be mentioned in print, as they are deliberately intriguing. So, if you ever see me around town in the latter, don’t think anything of it. It’s just one of the softest t-shirts I’ve ever owned.

So, there’s the explanation behind my shirts. The handouts from the bar make up about 90 percent of my tees; sometimes you need to spread the word so that a garment doesn't seem as inappropriate. Still, the strange looks made me think. There's college appropriate and daily life appropriate, or so I gather from the inevitable strange looks.