Fads are fun to observe: huge sunglasses that cover every part of the face except the nose, tunics and tights, flats, peace signs, conforming to nonconformity, MTV, dying one's hair to some new hue of rebellion.
The list never ends.
One of the intriguing things about fads is that they occasionally steer toward humanitarian pursuits.
Just look at the T-shirts available at places like Gap, Delia's and Target. Various catchy or artistic designs promote AIDS relief, vocalize the genocide in Sudan, and sport the new trend of eco-friendly living.
It's great that students are choosing to be more aware of current issues and events, but in most cases, this awareness never carries through to action. And that really bugs me.
What good is done by wearing a shirt that espouses the conflict in Darfur if you don't even know the battling groups involved or where Sudan is even located? (Hint: across that big pond we like to call the Atlantic Ocean.)
What benefits come from an "Insert Message of Recycling Here" T-shirt when its owner drives a 7-mpg SUV and throws plastic bottles out his or her window while riding into the polluted, smoggy sunset?
Whose life is changed by a "Make Art, Not War" shirt when the wearer doesn't call lawmakers to urge the end of the war in Iraq and endorses candidates who have voted in favor of entering it?
The bottom line is this: Will a bracelet, a T-shirt or a sticker change someone's life? Or, will a shirt, in addition to a bona fide impetus spread throughout one's community, achieve desired change?
The answer is as clear as our once-clean skies aren't.
To clarify, it isn't the shirts I find objectionable. It's that students feign interest in humanitarian issues because it's the "in" thing, not because they care. Just as shameful and undoubtedly more common is someone who buys a shirt and thinks that this act alone solves the problem at hand.
If you are a budding human rights activist, raise awareness for those killed in Darfur by spreading the message of said genocide.
If you are a passionate environmentalist, reduce your carbon footprint and encourage others to do so as well.
If you are concerned with the health care in underprivileged countries, raise money for a village hospital, deliver the funds yourself to that hospital and lend an overseas hand while you're there. Feel free to wear your (RED) T-shirt while you're there, too.
My message is simply this: Please do buy the shirt, hat, pair of socks, shoes, sticker, bracelet or poster. But invest in the cause as well.
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