the corner office

Via Radley Balko (here and here), the hip-hop look stands to get very expensive in the US state of Virginia, which is looking to pass a law which will render wearers of "lewd or indecently exposed" underwear liable to a fine of $50. This is a gem of a line from the Washington Times:

It's not clear if the fine would apply to plumbers, carpenters or other laborers who have problems with low-riding pants.

Heh. Heh. Say no to crack.

I have no idea what statement one is making by exposing one's rods to the world, but as long there are no skid marks, what's the big deal? It could be worse. We could go back to that 60s/70's tight jeans look when underwear wasn't really in fashion at all, and men and women let it all hang out, so to speak. They never passed laws against that. I have an old Cat Stevens vinyl and the album cover has a photo of ole Cat perched on a chair at a concert, and I'm sorry, but I got the heebies every time I saw that picture. I'm all heebied out right now, just remembering it. What was that generation thinking? The worst you can say about baggies and exposed undies is that it looks a bit foolish to the uninitiated. That whole tight jeans thing, on the other hand, was plain traumatic.

Anyhoo.