Candleblog

I just got back from the Burlington Police Dept. where I was fingerprinted.  I’m teaching an after school filmmaking program this school year for Burlington High School and since it’s my first time getting paid to teach public school students (at least in an official, on-the-payroll capacity), they have to run a background check to make sure I’m not a mad-dog killer.  I’ll let you know what they find out.

As I sat waiting for my turn at the nifty electronic fingerprinting machine, I noticed a sign — presumably meant for those getting their mug shots taken — that read, “Take off hats, glasses and hoodies.”  My first reaction was that they must have known I was coming because I was indeed wearing a hat, glasses and a hoodie.  My second thought was to wonder how long the word “hoodie” has been so ingrained in popular parlance that it appears on official police signage.  Merriam Webster dates the word at 1992.  I don’t know when the sign at the BPD went up, but 16 years is a pretty short time from word-coinage to police interview room signage, is all I’m saying.

Alas, they did not take my picture, so I did not have to heed their admonition.