thedrifter
09-03-07, 09:13 AM
Yuppies on the run?
Embrace old school; just say no to running suits
By Mark Fayloga -
Posted : September 10, 2007
In case you haven’t heard, the higher-ups are developing a Marine Corps running suit. They even had a PT uniform survey for Marines to vote on which of two prototypes is more aesthetically pleasing.
But I have a question for whoever is heading this change to our PT uniform — what’s wrong with my green-on-green sweats? Sweats are great. You know who ran in sweats? Rocky ran in sweats. Rocky! He went from a nobody bum to the world champ, and a large part of that transformation was due to running in plain ol’ sweats.
Running suits are all right, but do you know who runs in a running suit? The same type of guy who wears a wireless cell phone headpiece while running ... a yuppie. That’s right, I said it.
It’s not that the new running suits being developed don’t look sharp. They do look good. They just don’t look like they fit in the Marine Corps. If I saw a formation of Marines wearing those running suits while on a run, I believe it would look like a gaggle of soccer moms enjoying a nice jog. I would probably look around to see if anybody was pushing a bambino in one of those nifty running strollers.
This is why the new suits bother me. I don’t want a group of Marines running in formation to look like yuppies. Even worse, they might be confused with airmen or soldiers.
Some may argue that the PT uniform needs to be modernized. We need better ventilation or lighter material, and that’s fine. Take those ideas and apply them to my green-on-green sweats. We don’t need to come out with a new uniform, let alone hold a survey on what a running suit needs.
That survey should have been one question long: Can you run comfortably in this? Instead, there was a list of “attributes” singing the praises of the new running suit: straight ankle-cuff style, storm flaps on jacket pockets and knee articulation.
You know, I’ve never once been out for a run in my green-on-green sweats and thought to myself, “Man alive, I could really go for some knee articulation in these sweats.” Perhaps it’s because I have no clue what “knee articulation” means. I’m no doctor, but I’m fairly certain the knee is that bumpy thing in the middle of my leg. As for articulation, I have no idea what its definition is, but I do know articulate means the ability to use language easily and fluently. So in these new running suits my knees will become better speakers? That’s good I guess, just in case midway through a run somebody challenges my knees to a debate or asks them to be a guest speaker at a graduation.
Maybe it’s just me, but part of the appeal of the green-on-green sweats is the grunge. They’re old school, a bit tougher. One reason I love being in the Marine Corps is that we do more with less. I don’t want to wear a running suit to PT. Why sissify our PT uniform? What’s next? Are we going to do away with high and tights to embrace faux-hawks as the new Marine haircut?
Let’s try to save our green-on-green sweats by writing to the uniform board. It may be futile to try to save them now, but it’s worth a shot. Until the day I’m required to slip into a yuppie suit, I will continue to run in my green-on-green sweats, the song “Eye of the Tiger” blaring in my head.
“Yo, Adrian!”
..........
The writer is a community relations corporal at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Ellie
Embrace old school; just say no to running suits
By Mark Fayloga -
Posted : September 10, 2007
In case you haven’t heard, the higher-ups are developing a Marine Corps running suit. They even had a PT uniform survey for Marines to vote on which of two prototypes is more aesthetically pleasing.
But I have a question for whoever is heading this change to our PT uniform — what’s wrong with my green-on-green sweats? Sweats are great. You know who ran in sweats? Rocky ran in sweats. Rocky! He went from a nobody bum to the world champ, and a large part of that transformation was due to running in plain ol’ sweats.
Running suits are all right, but do you know who runs in a running suit? The same type of guy who wears a wireless cell phone headpiece while running ... a yuppie. That’s right, I said it.
It’s not that the new running suits being developed don’t look sharp. They do look good. They just don’t look like they fit in the Marine Corps. If I saw a formation of Marines wearing those running suits while on a run, I believe it would look like a gaggle of soccer moms enjoying a nice jog. I would probably look around to see if anybody was pushing a bambino in one of those nifty running strollers.
This is why the new suits bother me. I don’t want a group of Marines running in formation to look like yuppies. Even worse, they might be confused with airmen or soldiers.
Some may argue that the PT uniform needs to be modernized. We need better ventilation or lighter material, and that’s fine. Take those ideas and apply them to my green-on-green sweats. We don’t need to come out with a new uniform, let alone hold a survey on what a running suit needs.
That survey should have been one question long: Can you run comfortably in this? Instead, there was a list of “attributes” singing the praises of the new running suit: straight ankle-cuff style, storm flaps on jacket pockets and knee articulation.
You know, I’ve never once been out for a run in my green-on-green sweats and thought to myself, “Man alive, I could really go for some knee articulation in these sweats.” Perhaps it’s because I have no clue what “knee articulation” means. I’m no doctor, but I’m fairly certain the knee is that bumpy thing in the middle of my leg. As for articulation, I have no idea what its definition is, but I do know articulate means the ability to use language easily and fluently. So in these new running suits my knees will become better speakers? That’s good I guess, just in case midway through a run somebody challenges my knees to a debate or asks them to be a guest speaker at a graduation.
Maybe it’s just me, but part of the appeal of the green-on-green sweats is the grunge. They’re old school, a bit tougher. One reason I love being in the Marine Corps is that we do more with less. I don’t want to wear a running suit to PT. Why sissify our PT uniform? What’s next? Are we going to do away with high and tights to embrace faux-hawks as the new Marine haircut?
Let’s try to save our green-on-green sweats by writing to the uniform board. It may be futile to try to save them now, but it’s worth a shot. Until the day I’m required to slip into a yuppie suit, I will continue to run in my green-on-green sweats, the song “Eye of the Tiger” blaring in my head.
“Yo, Adrian!”
..........
The writer is a community relations corporal at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Ellie