July 2, 2003
Nick Garafola Utne.com
In the past, U.S. citizens have donned Canadian flags on
backpacks to avoid being associated with their true point of
origin. But if Yankees traveling abroad are willing to come clean
and humble themselves in front of their foreign hosts, then the
?American Traveler International Apology Shirt? might be an
effective tool. The shirt reads, ?I?m sorry my president?s an
idiot. I didn?t vote for him? in the six official U.N.
languages?Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian.
The T-shirts cost $16 and are available with or without the English
translation in several sizes and styles, including ?baby doll.? On
the web site selling the T-shirts, consumers are encouraged to buy
the shirt, then fix the system. But on the ?comments? portion of
the site, one visitor wonders if the shirt?s message isn?t
redundant. ?Of course, your president IS an idiot. But so is anyone
that would wear a T-shirt like this one,? writes Toy Chicken.
?Could I suggest an alternative logo? In all the U.N. languages of
course. ?I?m sorry, I?m an American, and would rather make money
from ?apologizing? than doing anything genuinely valuable. My
president is an idiot, but hey, that?s what you get, with our brand
of democracy!?? From there, the talk of T-shirts quickly descends
into an argument over who won World War II. If nothing else, the
shirts have proved to be good fodder for healthy international
debate.
?Nick Garafola
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