Painful Misunderstanding

Posted by Braden

I'm taking volleyball this semester. I didn't take a gym class last semester, so this is my first time having a permanent locker in the Richards Building (RB) and regularly getting the BYU athletic-issue clothes. On the first day of class, the teacher said that we could get socks, shorts, and a shirt—which we must wear to participate—in the locker room.

So for the next day of class, I got each item of BYU issue. But there was one problem: they're like '80s-style clothes! The socks are tube socks that go halfway up your leg, and the shorts are the short shorts that almost make you feel immodest—the kind that basketball players wore in the '80s with their tube socks, for goodness' sake!

But since we had to wear BYU issue, I sucked up my pride, put on the shorts and shirt, and went to the gym, somewhat consoled by the fact that everybody must feel as ridiculous as I did. (I did skip on the socks; I figured I could get away with just keeping my own ankle socks, and there are some things my pride just won't let me do.) I walked into the gym and found only ONE other person wearing these gross shorts! And 15 seconds later, class started, so I was stuck wearing them for the rest of the period.

Turns out, only the BYU shirt is absolutely necessary; you can wear your own shorts and socks if you want to, no problem! Now I know, and never again will I put on those abominations from the RB locker room.

Note: At the end of winter semester 2009, BYU phased out its physical education clothing. This post by Braden, as with all posts on this blog, was written a year ago, before the clothing was discontinued. Here is a brief article from BYU Magazine about the clothing change.