Recently my friend Kieran and I have been in a sort of competition to see who has the most clothes that don't belong to us. We like to make entire outfits out of clothes that we've borrowed or directly pilfered from our friends.
It's funny and harmless. We don't hurt anyone, and our friends should feel proud for having helped keep clothes on our backs. Like we always say, if our friends have clothes, we have clothes.
Our friends know (or should know by now) that if we "borrow" anything, there's a reallyhigh probability that they will not get them back, ever. That's just a risk people have to take if they want to be friends with us.
Honestly, people shouldn't be very surprised by this sketchy habit of ours. We're inherently sketchy people. By now we should have earned some sort notoriety among our friends and acquaintances for all our eccentric (and endearing) antics.
In truth, however, we are somewhat selective of who we take clothes from.
I'm not going to just take clothes for the kicks and giggles. If I'm going to steal something, I'm going to wear it. There's no point in taking clothes from someone who a.) Isn’t my size or b.) Who wears garbage clothes. When I say garbage, I mean clothes that I do not like and would never wear, like camouflage.
Besides being picky of what I take, I'm picky of the person I take it from.
Growing up my mother worked a lot, and my father would be gone for months at a time. I would miss them deeply, especially when my brother was mean to me, but I knew there was nothing I could do to change the circumstances. Instead of just crying about it, I would sneak into their closet in the middle of the night and steal their shirts.
I remember always taking my dad's green plaid shirt or one of my mom's t-shirts and hugging them until I fell asleep. I would put my nose to them and take in their smells, pretending that they were there with me. It gave me so much comfort as a child, so I'm not about to ruin this memory by taking someone's clothes who I only mildly tolerate.
In truth, there are about two people who I have clothes from. Kieran being one of them and our friend, Sunshine, being the other. If I take your clothes, take it as a compliment because it means I care about you and want to be close to you.