Lucas will probably include this line in the upcoming Blu-Ray editions.
Why didn’t Hot Topic exist when I was a teenager? I still would’ve been an uncool kid but at least I could’ve had shirts of bands/cartoons/inside jokes my nerdy friends and I understood. Another friend once dismissed it as a Mall Goth store which I felt was an unfair criticism since the staff has always been friendly, non-judgmental and very helpful…traits you don’t find in the stereotype of Goths.
Moving along, HT was having a sale on shirts. I had to be in the neighborhood to pick up a special order for my nephew Nick (he likes Guns n’ Roses so he’s definitely his father’s son). Then I was inspired (by the discounts) into scoring something for Hunter who recently turned 12. Thanks to a string of unlimited SMS communications to his mother, I pinned down that he likes RHCP amongst the others she listed off: Beatles, Train, The Fray, Chicago, Def Leppard, Green Day and Black Eyed Peas. Hard to believe HT lacked even just one Beatles or Green Day shirt, they’re like staples with this retailer.
Hunter has two younger brothers who aren’t at the age when musical identity begins to set in, thus they got things little dudes like. Above is the funny shirt I scored Wyatt. We adults will get a chuckle. The kids will give confused stares.
Now they have one extra shirt to wear at school to maintain their reputations as cool dudes in bitchin’ threads. It’s what DINK uncles and aunts excel at providing.
However, I had to wrestle with the moral dilemma over not buying any of them a discounted Social Distortion shirt (it was the current album cover). I ended up passing since I feared it would make them be perceived as mini-Hipsters, not as kids with strong Indie Rock credibility.