“Hei…you there,” a lumpy figure waves his big hand signalling Caleb to move nearer to him. Bewildered, Caleb walks towards him, not entirely sure what he is needed for.
“What’s your name?”
“Err…Caleb..Sir”
Facing upwards putting on a smirk, he continued, “I’ve been observing you for quite some time now; you do know jeans are prohibited in college?” He points towards Caleb’s dark black jeans.
“Owh, jeans. Yeah, my slack pants need patching up, so…”
“You have only one slack?”
Caleb did not see this coming, but he tries to maintain his composure.
Trying not to sound overly rude, he retorts,”But I’ve only started wearing this since yesterday…Sir.”
“Really?”
In response Caleb nods his head as frantic as he could, so as to plead his innocence.
“You will need to purchase more slacks, you can’t wear this to college. It is not our culture.”
His heart bids his legs to just take off and extract himself from that awkward situation, but his pride nails him right where he stands…
………………………
...it is not clear how much time has passed, but Caleb breaks that moment of silence.
“What gave it away, Sir?”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s jeans alright, but why exactly its prohibited?”
Perhaps out of disbelieve the officer looks stunned with his big mouth gaping wide, clearly not expecting Caleb to respond in such a manner.
Sensing a weakness in his defence, Caleb pushes on, “Jeans or not, its black in colour. Unless you stand 2 feet away from me and look carefully, you won’t notice its jeans I’m wearing. Jeans or not, it is a long pants and it is not at all offensive to the others, even the Muslims. In fact I like this jeans very much, and it is way more comfortable than the other slack I have.”
“It’s the rules. Rules. Period.”
“Perhaps those that wore slacks other than black deserves caution too.”
“Jeans are casual wear and thus unsuitable for our profession. We must look professional at all times.”
“Perhaps you might become more professional when you stop judging others with prejudiced perception.”
“Watch your mouth. Leave before I lose my temper.”
“I understand that I’ve broken the rules. But I am in no disillusionment that I break more than just rules. I pushed the boundaries to the edge and now you seek to stop me by imposing your authority upon me. You claimed to have seen me wearing jeans to college for the week, yet in truth I had not wear any jeans until yesterday. You were observing me just to see when I make a mistake, so that you can step in and show who’s boss…”
………………………
“Hei…you, are you listening?”
“Pardon me, Sir. What did you say again?”
“What are you staring into? I said, go get more slacks, you can’t wear this to college.”
“Ahh…alright sir. I’ll remember not to wear this to college, again. Thanks for your kindly reminder...”
Caleb turns and move away before the officer could add another word. Under his breath he reminds himself to stay away from trouble. This black jeans of his, probably will have to lay low for the time being, at least until being practical becomes the new professionalism.