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T O P I C R E V I E WgarymilgromI'm walking through a grocery store wearing my NASA meatball shirt when someone gives me a thumbs up and says "go NASA". I've never observed this kind of spontaneous support before (except at NASA facilities etc.).Has anyone else experienced this? It put a big smile on my face after a long day at the office. In that mood I was lucky they don't sell space souveneirs at Kroger!music_spaceThe one space-related t-shirt which attracts unsollicited comments from people is my vintage "collectSPACE.com - Got Space? - It does a collector good" shirt. MCroft04I had an energy audit on my house last week and the auditor asked me if I was an astronaut. Gee, wonder why he would ask that question? Jay ChladekI've worn my shuttle mission T-shirts as well as my KSC ones in public before, but have yet to get any reaction, not even a question.I had one guy who works at a bank branch I go to if I knew who astronaut Dale Gardner was. I actually knew who he was talking about (mainly because I have researched astronauts who flew F-14s in the Navy and Gardner was a RIO in VF-1 during its first deployment). Reason he asked was he grew up in the town Dale was apparently born in (but moved away from when very young). That has been the only time though.p51I have the two flight jackets with NASA patches on them in the photos below. Other than people often asking me if I am actually with NASA (which happens at least half the times I wear either), people often talk about how cool NASA is. It even happened last night while my wife and I were in line at Subway for sandwiches. A grubby old guy in line saw the jacket and started going on about how cool it would have been to see a shuttle going up (he was very sad for me when I told him of the times I drove to KSC only to have a scrub each time and never got to see one go up except at a great distance). My wife rolls her eyes every time it happens and she's seen it happen many times before. I think it has much to do where I live. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, somewhat near the Boeing factories, but quite far away from any NASA facility. My parents and wife both agree that's the reason so many people ask me if I work for NASA or am an astronaut myself. If I lived in Orlando, say, I doubt I'd get these questions and reactions at all. Fra MauroI have a few NASA ties and I used to wear one on launch days. I also have a NASA jacket, once when I was on a plane, a stewardess asked me if I worked for NASA, Even though I was tempted to say yes, I told the truth. I guess I was afraid if something went wrong, they would call me to the flight deck!larry115I have two closets crammed so full of NASA suits and jackets they almost won't close. I wear NASA jackets every day it's below 70 and I have yet to get any reaction at all. I even have a "Mach 25" patch on one of the jackets and if an astronaut saw that he'd blow his lid on the spot. But if I drive east one hour to Dryden -- er, Armstrong -- I get plenty of reaction, so much that I learned my lesson 25 years ago not to wear NASA flight gear there. But here at home? Nada. Nothing. It's like NASA doesn't exist. Like the rest of you I'm sure where I live has lots to do with it. I live in Bakersfield, and this redneck town is everything it's cracked up to be. These people don't even know what the moon *is* for Pete's sake.sts205cdrThis has happened to me countless times. The last time was this past Memorial Day. I was putting some dollars in the box at one of those tables just outside the grocery store when the vet there commented that he had worked in satellites. It didn't immediately register why he would just come out and say that, then I looked down and noticed I was wearing a t-shirt with a NASA meatball on it.Fra MauroMy students sometimes comment on my NASA ties. Among adults, however, t-shirts, caps, flight jackets get zero reaction. New Yorkers aren't impressed by much I suppose. One time on a plane, a flight attendant who saw my NASA jacket asked me if I worked for them. I was tempted to say yes but thought better of it...Robert PearlmanSome parents proudly display their children's school names as decals on their car windows. My mom displayed a bumper sticker for the National Space Society (my first employer).She would share stories with me of being stopped fairly regularly by random people in supermarket and shopping mall parking lots asking about what the slogan, "I'm Pro-Space and I Vote!" meant. The result was brief conversations about the space program (and her son's role in covering it).She told me that she thought it was one way in which she was helping to increase support for NASA (as well as whatever project I was working on at the time).sprocketshipI was wearing my "Property of NASA" shirt one day when someone asked me if I worked for them. That was pretty cool.Sadly, my answer was, "No".
Has anyone else experienced this? It put a big smile on my face after a long day at the office. In that mood I was lucky they don't sell space souveneirs at Kroger!
I had one guy who works at a bank branch I go to if I knew who astronaut Dale Gardner was. I actually knew who he was talking about (mainly because I have researched astronauts who flew F-14s in the Navy and Gardner was a RIO in VF-1 during its first deployment). Reason he asked was he grew up in the town Dale was apparently born in (but moved away from when very young). That has been the only time though.
It even happened last night while my wife and I were in line at Subway for sandwiches. A grubby old guy in line saw the jacket and started going on about how cool it would have been to see a shuttle going up (he was very sad for me when I told him of the times I drove to KSC only to have a scrub each time and never got to see one go up except at a great distance).
My wife rolls her eyes every time it happens and she's seen it happen many times before. I think it has much to do where I live. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, somewhat near the Boeing factories, but quite far away from any NASA facility. My parents and wife both agree that's the reason so many people ask me if I work for NASA or am an astronaut myself. If I lived in Orlando, say, I doubt I'd get these questions and reactions at all.
She would share stories with me of being stopped fairly regularly by random people in supermarket and shopping mall parking lots asking about what the slogan, "I'm Pro-Space and I Vote!" meant. The result was brief conversations about the space program (and her son's role in covering it).
She told me that she thought it was one way in which she was helping to increase support for NASA (as well as whatever project I was working on at the time).
That was pretty cool.
Sadly, my answer was, "No".
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