Shirt-Worthy

     For this blog entry I read "Shirt-Worthy" by David Giffels which was featured in the New York Times. The story is about the author's struggle to purchase a Ramones t-shirt; but not simply purchase, purchase a shirt with a process that made him really work for it and earn it. A process that he "sweated, bled, transcended and then purchased."  At first I thought the conflict of the story was that he did not own a Ramones t-shirt, but as I read I felt that the conflict of the story was that he could not find an obstacle to break through in the process of buying the shirt. He easily could have boughten a shirt. Giffels stated that he went to numerous Ramones concerts but never bought a t-shirt. What I think Giffels was trying to say is that you have to earn something to get it; you cannot just simply obtain what you want. Like he said, at all of the concerts he easily could have boughten a Ramones t-shirt; but he said he had to earn it; he had to break through some obstacle in order to buy the Ramones t-shirt. This story is relevant because Giffels had always wanted a Ramones t-shirt but never had the opportune moment to buy his. However, when his son ask for a Ramones t-shirt for his 10th birthday, without hesitation he went to Hot Topic and bought the shirt. When it was ripped and he bought his son a new shirt, he was left with his own shirt. He finally had his own Ramones t-shirt.
     I think the author's intended audience is people who take things for granted. If they see something they want, they will go get it. They won't hesitate and ask themselves, "Do I really need this? or Do I deserve this?" "Shirt-Worthy" embodies the message that you have to earn what is yours. I liked how Giffels was very descriptive in some parts of his personal narrative. For example, when he described the t-shirt wall when he first entered Hot Topic. He also used dialogue towards the end of his writing. I kind of feel like some of his transitions are a little choppy, but for the most part the transitions for paragraph to paragraph were pretty good. I was always aware of the setting in the story.
    Overall I thought it was a strong personal narrative and enjoyed reading it.