by S.C. Kleinhans

Created on: January 22, 2012   Last Updated: January 24, 2012

The student body had been picketing for several days. But there was no sign of relief. The students and teachers had been forced to don the hideous new school uniforms. The charter school had adopted an atrocious plaid design. It featured mustard yellow, distressed brown and pale turquoise. The blazers, slacks and skirts were very unsightly. The jumpers were even worse. The worst insult of all was the color of the shirts and blouses. Hot pink and slate grey. They clashed horribly with the wretched uniforms.

School morale had slipped. Grades soon followed. Several educators had become so infuriated  that they’d suddenly resigned. There were several theories floating around the elite school as to why they’d been subjected to the atrocious new attire. As the unruly students were taking a break in the shade, a heated discussion soon flared.

“We shouldn’t have complained about our old uniforms...”

“That has nothing to do with it. A drunken designer was just trying to win some sort of wacky tacky competition...”

“No, these dreadful uniforms were free. They’re soooo ugly that no one else wanted them.”

“Why can’t we just throw all of them on those tree branches over there...”

“Yeah, you’re right. We need to burn them. Then we’ll be forced to wear the old ones again.”

“That won’t work. We’ll just have even more trouble to worry about.”

“Why don’t we just give up and wear these stupid things!?”

“That’s an asinine idea. Then we’ll be forced to do other things against our will!”

“Maybe...this is just some sort of psychological experiment.”

“We’re not guinea pigs. This is just a sad situation we have to deal with.”

The headmaster walked over to the irritated young men and women.

“It’s all over.”

“Sir, what are you referring to?!”

“Your parents threatened to withdraw every one of you unless we abandoned our current dress code. From now on, you will have four different choices of uniforms to choose from.

Two for the first semester and two for the second one.”

The stunned group smiled and returned to their classrooms.

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