Local Man Wears Blue Tie...Again

High school English teacher and two-time Sectional Champion Scholar Bowl coach Joshua “J-Dawg” Robison knows a thing or two about wearing ties. He’s been around them all his life.

“I grew up in a house with multiple closets.” Robison mentions. “I know that at least one of those closets had ties. My dad wore ties on occasion. His dad wore ties. They weren’t weird about it. It was just something they did at socially appropriate times, like at church.”

Robison’s approach to tie-wearing, however, is anything but not weird. Case in point?

Operation: Tie-land

“Operation Tie-Land came about last August.” Robison continues. “I was looking at my tie collection, wondering which tie/shirt/khaki combo I would start out with. I noticed I had some ties I hadn’t worn in years, so I thought, ‘What if I tried to go through my entire tie-collection in one school year?’

This simple question started Robison out on his unsimple goal.

“After I wear a tie I put the tie on a rack, away from the other ties, signifying that that garment had already been worn. Could I do it? Could I go through the whole collection in one academic year? I came up with a clever name and started posting progress updates on social media. Basically it was an instant, viral hit.”

Not everyone, however, agrees.
            “No.” A fellow English teacher, who agreed to be interviewed on terms of anonymity, explains. “No one really cares. Very little of what he explained to you about this thing is accurate. And I think calling it ‘Operation: Tie-Land’ is a bit insensitive, regardless.”

“I think he’s just very unaware of how he’s seen by the average person.” Another fellow educator added. “The idea that anyone would even be remotely interested in what ties he’s worn or how many he has left to wear...it’s just nonsense. I wish he would just focus more on his job, his actual job, the one that affects the people around him. Like me.”

Regardless, Robison himself remains undaunted.

“I’m confident I can wear each of my ties to school before May 23rd.” Robison explains, referring to the last calendar day of student attendance, barring any more snow days. “It might be a challenge, because some of them are just really ugly. Some have stains. It’s a process. This is my blueprint year doing it, so expectations are fairly low.”

Considering the fact that it’s February, however, one has to ask: Has he really gone the entire school year so far without wearing the same tie twice?

Robison smirks and shakes his head. “No, not quite. There was a blue tie. A solid blue tie I did wear with a shirt that just wasn’t going to work without it. You know, a solid tie can bring some balance, some integrity, to a shirt with alot going on. I have no regrets, though. It was in my color wheel and I have no regrets.”