…while still a freshman in college, I found myself in need of a white dress shirt.

I don’t really remember what I needed it for (obviously something fancy-pants), but I do remember two important things about purchasing it:

1. I didn’t need it for long, and–

2. I was poor and needed it to be cheap.

So I did what most college students do: I hit up the Goodwill.

While flipping through the racks, I came across not just any old, plain white dress shirt, but one that had my initials monogrammed across the shirt’s front pocket: JRS, for “Justin Robert Shady.”

Needless to say, I bought it. Probably for like $2 or something. And it was most likely a “half-off everything” day at the Goodwill.

Anyway, I’ve held on to this old shirt for nearly twenty years now. I don’t use it for anything fancy-pants anymore, but instead use it in instances when I need a “messy” dress shirt. Like back in October 2009, when our Halloween costumes were Dia de los Muertos skulls.

You can see photos of me wearing the shirt here.

I painted my entire neck black for that costume, so the shirt’s collar got really fucked up. After that, the shirt was never quite the same; a lot of the makeup wouldn’t wash out of it. I haven’t worn it since.

KB and I are getting ready to move soon and have slowly been packing up boxes. When I came across the shirt in my closet the other day I decided it was finally time to say goodbye to it. I figure I’ve definitely gotten my $2 worth.

It’s now sitting at the bottom of a clothes donation bin on Victory Boulevard.

I’m hoping another JRS will pick it up and get another twenty years out of it.

Now that I look at it, that “J” may very well have been a “G,”

-Shady