Mpls Lakers

We are still collecting pictures of entertaining and odd t-shirts we've seen while living here. While dining in a restaurant with our visitors last week, Britt and I saw a man in a Minneapolis Lakers basketball jersey. (For those of you not fortunate enough to be from MN, you probably didn't know that the Los Angeles Lakers began their history in the city of Minneapolis - where the name actually made sense.)

We were not quick enough to get a photo, and were very disappointed.

Later, though, I saw him again on the beach selling bracelets. I quickly grabbed the camera this time, only to find that the batteries were dead. He began his sales pitch: "Hey bwother, you are my fwiend, can you elp me? Please buy one, what you like?" It took a while to convince him that I wasn't interested in bracelets, and don't really consider myself a "jewelry kind of guy". I'm not sure if he fully understood my dry wit and sarcasm, but it was fun trying.

Then, as an aside, I said "I do like your shirt though, that's where I'm from". He had the shirt half off before I realized he was offering to sell it to me. I was a bit concerned at this point. I've never had a transaction quite like this one that included literally buying the shirt off a guy's back. Especially a guy who lives in the poorest country in the hemisphere and might not have another shirt. But...the price was right, and he did actually have another shirt in his backpack, so we sealed the deal.

I am now the proud owner of a Mpls Lakers basketball jersey, size XL, bearing the number and name of the worst guy in the NBA - Kobe Bryant. Wish I'd seen that before I bought it. And when did Bryant play in Minneapolis? I've been cheated. I may have to remove Bryant and have a real Mpls Laker's name put on it, or else a more fitting basketball name if I'm going to wear it - like Great White Hype.

See you on the courts.

-Troy