When I grew up, cowboy western wear was the stuff of costume parties and Halloween. We would love to put on western cowboy hats, run around the neighborhood with cap guns, and pretend to shoot each other in the streets. We would have the most dramatic gunfights, and when one of us would actually be shot it was a scene for the Academy Awards. The idea that there were actually people who still dressed that way completely escaped me as a kid. I thought it was just something for our amusement, that is until my dad took me to my first rodeo.
Of course, I had seen western boots before, but I had never seen a true outfit of rodeo Western wear. It was really pretty impressive when you looked at it altogether. Cowboys might be the only genre of people who dress just like in the movies. They would have big tall cowboy hats, cowboy boots, leather chaps and Bolo ties – the works. When I first saw the costumes, I thought it was pretty silly, but I kept it to myself. As a kid, it was pretty entertaining for me to see all of these people wearing cowboy western wear. I didn't want them to think that I didn't appreciate it.
Once the rodeo actually began, I was blown away. To a boy, there is nothing more magnificent than a rodeo. All those big tough men using nothing but their might and bravery to conquer bucking broncos, charging steers, and all the rest – it was the stuff dreams are made of! It was so fantastic, it might as well have been a medieval tournament. I was immediately hooked. The very next day, I asked my dad to take me to buy some cowboy western wear.
Of course, my dad thought that it was just a phase. Nonetheless, he agreed to get me the clothes that I wanted. In some ways, he was happy that I wanted to go get that cowboy western wear. You see, I wasn't a particularly snappy dresser as a kid. No matter how hard my parents tried, they couldn't get me very interested in clothes. They were both very concerned with appearance, and the fact that I was suddenly interested in new clothing was enough to make them quietly rejoice. When the cowboy western wear became more than a phase, however, they were decidedly less happy about the whole thing. I was wearing cowboy clothes for the next two years!
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