This one's about scarves

This one’s about scarves.

I wore a scarf to school today. Actually, that’s only partly true. Let me explain.

The night before I put one on because my room, being one of the coldest in the house, becomes a meat locker as I sleep, and I didn’t feel like putting on my heater just because I could do without the stifling heat. So I woke up wearing one.

I took my sister to school, came home to browse the internet, and then got ready to go to school.

I was still wearing the scarf when I left because it was cloudy and windy outside. But when I finally parked and started walking to class, I did something I hadn't anticipated doing. I took off my scarf and threw it in my car. I didn't give much thought to the decision at the time.

Looking back, maybe it's because I rarely, if ever, wear a scarf in pubic. It's not part of my public wardrobe (the fact that I've chosen what clothes I can and cannot wear in public says something about me). I felt self-conscious wearing one, as if someone would stop me and say, "You don't look attractive with a scarf. Take it off."

My first class was Intro. To Sociology. At the end we watched a clip from ‘Scare Tactics,’ a prank reality show. In the clip, some guy is pressured into drinking a glass of juice by a group of ‘cult members’ (including his friend), despite suspicion of poison in it.

In the discussion that followed, the class thought he was stupid for doing it, and most asserted that, had they been in the same situation, they would not have drank the juice. I felt very strongly that I wouldn’t. My professor said people naturally conform to society’s whims, and that our lives are pervaded with social norms we follow just because everyone else is doing it—the American dream, going to college even if we don't want to, and dressing in fashionable, unpersonalized clothing.

She said everybody, at some point, drinks the juice--just like the guy in the video--even if it's just a little bit. I heartily agreed. Then I realized I unconsciously drink the juice earlier that morning.