In The Hood

Via Twitter: RT @chrisspahn "I think you can make anyone look shady in a hoodie."

My buddy Chris (a transplanted Codder now living in Ohio, for some goddamn reason....) posted this short tweet a few days ago, and at the time it resonated with me, because it's pretty true.  Put a hoodie, or hooded sweatshirt, on anyone, and instantly they look like a bluddy criminal.

It's unfair that one of my favorite articles of clothing ever invented, the ultra warm, multi-seasonal, all-purpose hooded sweatshirt, has been co-opted by a criminal element and been given this poor reputation.

Don't believe me? Wear a hoodie into a bank in the middle of the afternoon.  Before you even get inside, there's likely to be a little sticker or placard on the front glass doors telling customers to remove hoods (as well as sunglasses and ball caps) before entering.  All one has to do is look at security camera footage from bank robberies to understand why.

So on a cool, blustery early Spring day, any person wearing a hoodie will likely pull the hood up.  I can't walk my dog down our street in the mornings without pulling on my J. Crew fleece-lined zip-up and toss the hood up.  I'll shuffle down the street in PJ pants and birkenstocks, happy yellow Lab on the end of a blaze-orange leash, and tho my neighbors all know (or at least recognize) me, I still find myself getting the stank-eye when I have my hood up.

But I'm equally guilty of this snap judgment as well.  The other afternoon, while out doing groceries, I turned down a side street and was met by an on-coming car.  The driver was some dude in his mid-20s, smoking a cigarette, with his oversized gray hoodie up.

Granted, there's absolutely no reason to operate a motor vehicle while wearing a hood, unless you're a drug dealer, but instantly my mind was made up that this person was probably of less-than-reputable stature in the community, and likely up to no good.

It seems that anyone under the age of, say 25, and wearing a hooded sweatshirt instantly becomes a suspect in a slew of crimes committed and yet to be committed.  I think this sucks.  No other garment as utilitarian as the hooded sweatshirt has the same dubious reputation (well, maybe the ski mask).  The wearer as well, seems to cover himself in a veil of dangerous and ill-will as soon as he or she wears the hood.

I will say tho, with little exception, there's no reason to wear a hoodie indoors.  Half of the kids in my classes wear their hoods up while sitting during a lecture.  If I were a professor, I would find this very disrespectful.  Hats as well, (unless they're beanies, then, by all means, continue to hide your matted-hair shame) should be removed at the start of a lecture.

The case I'm trying to make, ultimately, is that we should all strive to be a little less quick to judge those who wear a hoodie in its up position.  Everyone, and I'm willing to go out on a limb, loves wearing a hoodie: grandmothers and priests alike. 

So before you judge, think about the warm security provided by that piece of inner/outer wear to its wearer.