Color Keyed

About a month ago I noticed a guy on my morning bus wearing a fuchsia shirt. I'd read a lot of stuff recently about how bright pink was going to be a hot color for guys this year, so I thought he was just being fashionable. He had a shaved head, funky rectangular glasses, and just had a general look of being trendy.

On a different day I noticed he was again wearing the fuchsia shirt, with a black jacket (it was one of those damp days before it got hot) that set it off nicely. I thought, good for you, not afraid to dress sharp. I imagined that he worked at an ad agency or was some sort of web developer.

Yesterday I saw a coworker on my way into the T station, and we started talking. When we got down to the platform, I noticed the guy was standing next to us. Then I noticed that his fuchsia shirt had a big "T-Mobile" above the pocket. Suddenly it all made sense, just not in the way I'd thought.

I think what threw me off was that it was a button-front shirt, because when I think of a typical cell-phone store guy, or even a typical electronics-store guy, I always think of someone wearing a polo shirt. It is kind of the default uniform; for a while I even worked at a such a job and had them. But we also had long-sleeve, button-front shirts with the brand logo embroidered above the pocket, and I'd simply forgotten about that. (Well, let's face it, I've tried to block as much of it as I can.)