Times Up

I am just sitting here. Got back from the gym about it an hour and a half ago and the kids requested I do their laundry again. They wanna make sure they have something to wear in the morning. Haha. Ok. I can't blame them I remember being like that too back in the day. Especially right after we moved from East San Diego to Santee. Our attire was not up to these white folk's standards. It was all about Mossimo, Gotcha, quiksilver- shit like that and shorts. Here I was straight from pretty much the hood and rocking le tigre and other fake lacoste and Izod polos, sometimes with khakis, sometimes with sweats. Yeah I was the fat kid in the sweats. I of course didn't want to be that kid, but due to circumstances outta of my control, mainly my mom threatening violence if I didnt wear what she had bought, I had to be. I remember the first time I wore shorts to school was in Santee. It was just too hot out here to be rocking sweats and khakis on the daily. I only had the guidance of when I would see the vatos from back in the old neighborhood wear shorts. They would pull their socks all the way up- even if they had stripes at the top. So I decided to go with that approach. As soon as I get to school this cat named Mike, who actually tried his damnest to get me to assimilate to the suburban life when I first moved there, tells me
" Hey dude, pull your socks down."
I was confused. Why? Was it because I wasn't wearing a wife beater to go along with the shorts? you pull your socks down when you're wearing a fake alligator polo? Up with a wife beater? Or up when you're just wearing a white on top? or Down if you don't have tatoos and up if you do? Or does the tattoo have to be of the virgin Mary or other religious figure? Maybe it just has to be a female or female's name? Up with cursive tattoo writing, down with Block writing? Up with a Jail Tattoo, down with Professionally done one? Up when you're wearing shades? Or is he just messing with me? It's always up right and he is just checking to make sure I don't make the mistake of pulling them down?
" Pull your socks down, dude trust me."
Ok. He had advised me twice and everything else he had done prior hadn't been made to mock me so I did. This was in the morning. by the end of recess whatever hood instincts I had were telling me the socks down thing was not cool. what if a vato came cruising along into the school and saw me with my socks down? I couldn't let him see me like that. So I pulled them back up. Hood restored. a few minutes later from Mike;
" Hey Roy really pull your socks down and keep them down..."
God Damn it. alright. Now I was in a bind. Adjust to how people wear their socks here and risk someone from the hood hearing about and or seeing this, or don't and risk being the outkast here just a couple months after I had moved. So I pulled them back down with the plan on pulling them up every so often and then down again. Right before lunch I pull them up. No one noticed throughout lunch or the recess period after lunch, So it was all cool. Until we had to line up to get back in class. I am leaning up against the class room wall when I hear Mike.
"Alight dude I'm gonna do it for you and I'm gonna hide them gay stripes too."
So He bends down and starts folding my socks for me, making sure the colored stripes are hidden. He then proceeds to tell me I should only wear white socks- no stripes with shorts and that I should always roll them down. Thats just how its done here. I figured if a kid is gonna go ahead and go through the trouble of actually pulling down your socks for you and take the time to pull them down so no stripes are showing, maybe I should just listen to his fashion advice. Too bad he couldn't do anything about the lame ass sweaters I would wear that said ridiculous bullshit like;
" Warning! I'm a party animal"
"I know you are but what am I?"
"Don't bother me till I've had my first cup of coffee..."
which really, the last one didn't make sense for me to have to wear because I didn't drink coffee back then. Anyways I believe it wasn't until 6th grade where I finally got a say in what the fuck I wore. Of course everything was too expensive so I had to settle for the lesser brands but at least I finally got rid of the khakis, sweats, and ridiculous sweaters.

I also remember a few weeks after moving to Santee a conversation bewteen 3 white kids sitting at the same lunch table as me. One of them asked...
"Alright what colors do Crips wear and what color do Bloods wear?"
I was thinking colors? really its just Blue and Red. They aren't fashion gangs- they don't accessorize. Anyways obviously to me the shit was second nature- even in east san diego this shit a was well known fact- skyline , Valencia Park = bloods, barrio market, shelltown = crips (no nothing like LA gangs but then what is I guess and I'm not even sure if this is right anymore but back then I knew...), but these other two kids were clueless.
" you guys don't know?" asked the gang conversation starter, getting all proud that he knew but that they didn't. He proceeds to tell them.
" Crips wear blue and white and Bloods wear Red and Black."
" Aaah, I knew that I just forgot it..."

Apparently Mr. Gang authority here had just watched himself some colors and was trying to organize his own Santee branch. I believe he was gonna ally himself with the gang whose colors looked best on him...

A couple of months ago I was hanging with Mike at his house (I wrote about it) and this guy had the audacity to call me the whitest Mexican he ever knew. Well it's partly your fault, dude.

O.C.'s Times up because "you lack the minerals and vitamins, the iron and the niacins" to hang with me at 1:30 in the AM on a Sunday.