A Tie a Day

As a teacher it is important that I look professional in my dealings with the public, but this term “professional” is open to interpretation. I have thoughts about what this means, the school board has a dress code, parents have feelings about proper dress, but above all, my principal has the most important say in this matter.

Personally, I am not sure why a tie is professional looking. I can say this because I have some ties that make me look like a clown, but they technically count as a tie. If wearing a ridiculous tie is the look for a male teacher, then I can always be safe and professional.

When I first became a kindergarten teacher I was told that a tie was not an option. I had a few ties then and when my father heard that I had to wear ties, he began giving me all the ties he no longer wanted. This was the early 90’s so I acquired some of his ties from the 80’s.

Since I was a kindergarten teacher, I began to get ties from my students as presents. Some were serious, but most were funny or holiday themed. And I wore them all.

This is the tie I wore today. Plain blue
it goes with almost anything. I like it
but I think the logo is presumptuous.

In the 90’s I rediscovered my love for football, and you guessed it, I started receiving football themed ties.

When I became a computer resource specialist, the technology themed ties became birthday and Christmas gifts. Then I had children of my own, and with them, ties with my kid’s pictures as the tie pattern.

At some point I forgot all about my manly attire and went to the opposite extreme and tried to never wear a tie. Perhaps it was an extended bout of rebelliousness, or even laziness. Maybe the extra few minutes it took to prepare for the day was taken up with my children’s needs in the morning grind. It could have been the perfect storm of all these things combined.

But somewhere deep inside, I missed them. The cartoon characters, the bazaar patterns that never go with anything, styles that were cool, and even the styles that were never cool. Ties are an expression of fun, just like themed boxers, except everyone gets to see them!

I used to joke that I could wear a different tie every day of school. I do have a lot of ties. I have so many that they are in different spots all over the closet. I can’t see them all at once.

Last week I began wearing ties again and I remembered my old boast. Today I decided I will do it. My math is very rough but I think I can. Today I counted over 100 ties and then got bored with the task. I had about 30 more to count. There are 183 days of school, but Fridays I don’t have to wear one. So that leaves about 145 days of ties…

Somehow, I am sure I will make it. Let the parade of ties begin!

The Tazmanian Devil Technology tie is an instant classic. The black background with the the spattering of brown makes the tie go woith just about any color combination. I wore this one yesterday. Everybody loves Taz!

Monday I pulled out the mouse and @ symbol tech tie. The pattern is nice and it does attract a bit of attention.

At some point last week I wore this tie. Not exciting. A conservitive choice for sure.

I don't remember which day I wore this tie. Another boring tie. I like it, but boring.

This is one of my all time favorite ties. It is a Jerry Garcia tie from the 90's. Bold and colorful it reminds me of the two times I got to see the Grateful Dead in concert. The funny thing is I think I gave this one to my Dad for Christmas one year and he promptly gave it back to me in one of his tie purgings that followed in early February.