611 Seeing Purple

611 Seeing Purple

Purple is the new black. This fall, everything's coming up purple. We have acquired purple clothing, purple bath towels, purple plums, a purple handbag, purple shoes. Purple.

There are variations, of course. There's plumb and there's lavender and there's everything in between.

Purple is the new black.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't be cause for concern. But there was that First Apartment. The First Apartment was in attic of a private house in Baldwin, New York. The owners of the house were Walter and Eileen Shrubinsky, first time homeowners trying to cover their mortgage by renting the upstairs. When we called attention to the intense purple bedroom and the intense purple living room, Walter said "well, we just bought the house and my wife loves purple."

The temptation was to say "well, let HER live surrounded by it, not us." But who knew you could say that to a potential landlord. We took the apartment, $110 dollars a month.

Being overwhelmed by purple is not the same as being overwhelmed by, say, blue or white or tan. It's a whole different animal. Imagine yourself being drunk out of your mind and surrounded by iridescent purple. It's not a sobering thought. Imagine yourself awakening in an attic bedroom surrounded by purple walls and a purple ceiling. It's not a sobering thought. Imagine yourself seeking comfort from purple in an electric blue bathroom so small you could bathe, use the toilet and the sink without moving among them, and feeling actual relief.

It has taken 47 years of purple-phobia to overcome, well, purple phobia. But here we are in 2009 and purple is the new black. And now, there's purple everywhere you look.

There was a dinner at the house the other night and the plastic-coated dinner plates and the plastic forks, knives and spoons were... purple.

It's enough to bring one flashbacks.

But purple is the new black. Get with the program. Be modern. Be up on the latest.

The good news is that fad colors don't remain in fashion forever.

Shrapnel:

--The Chicago Cubs in bankruptcy? Say it ain't so, Joe. Nah, just a temporary trick to make sure the Tribune Co's endless parade of creditors doesn't try to muscle some bucks out of the team's new owners when they take over.

--Actually, "Joe" was Shoeless Joe Jackson, caught up in a World Series fix scandal in 1919. Some kid shouted that famous line at Jackson as he left the court house. Jackson didn't respond (and didn't use steroids or HGH, or for that matter a big league bat for much longer.)

--The only other MLB teams to have committed bankruptcy were the Orioles in the 1990s, before it became fashionable, and the Seattle Pilots in the 1960s when it was even less fashionable to have one's troubles thrashed out in court. The Orioles remain the Orioles, have decided you have to spend money on scouting to make money on tickets, and still live in Baltimore. The Pilots have become the Milwaukee Brewers.

I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you're welcome to them.®

©WJR 2009