I recycle, reuse and my family freecycles and exchanges household goods and clothing with other families. I’ve also walked or biked to school since 4th grade – now I’m a freshman at Bergen Community College and still a proud biker.

There’s a bike path I take most of the way to school but I still have to travel 1/4 mile on a nasty road with no shoulder or bike path (Paramus Road). Luckily the county bike path lets me avoid Century Road, which is possibly the worst death trap for bikers and walkers in this area. At night the bike path is closed so I have to get a ride home. I guess the parks people think nobody needs to walk or bike after dark.

It’s funny how I take 15 minutes to bike to school while people who live in my town drive and it takes them about 40 minutes in the morning because the traffic’s so backed up. When they complain I say, “Hey, you should bike. You’ll get here faster, it’s better for the environment and you get exercise,” and they give me a funny little grin. They’d like to tell me I’m stupid but on the other hand, it’s hard to make fun of me when I’m right.

Every time I do it Mom says, “You’re weird.” Or, “Jorge you’re SO retarded.” She likes to change it up. You know, saying the same thing all the time can get boring.

So, today I said, “I’m bringing back pockets back in style!” I put my hands in my back pockets and asked Mom why she thought they (back pockets) were invented.

She said, “So people could put things in them.”

“That’s ridiculous!” I responded. Then people would sit on the stuff in their pockets.” She had to agree with me. Who wouldn’t – this is common sense. Anyway, putting your hands in your rear pockets is fun. And for another thing, it’s a conversion starter. ”How?” you ask. What a GREAT question.

It works like this: you put both your hands in your rear pockets and make waving motions, like you were saying hi to someone except at butt level, and behind you, using very small circles  (you can’t move your hands too much when they’re in your pockets). People around you will be like, “Oh wow! That guy (or girl) farted!”

This is your cue to turn around and say, “No I didn’t!”

When people want to know, “So why you were waving your hands?” you tell them, “I just read this guy’s blog post and decided it’d be cool to help bring back pockets in style for something useful, just like he’s been trying to do for the past three weeks.” (See how this also turns into a way you can help me promote my blog?) The conversation has been started. To keep it going you keep talking to these people. If you want to talk to them, that is – you don’t have to. Just don’t say I didn’t say you can talk to them.

People don’t seem to know any more what back pockets were really made for, so please help me spread the word. Thank you for reading along, and I hope that you use your back pockets in good health. Always.