where I look back at my yearbook inscriptions & give unnecessary backstory & insight
“I don’t know what these other freaks are writen (sic) about you because your (sic) nothin and I’m sick of you gettin me DT.” – 9th grade, 1995
On only one occasion during my public school education experience did I receive detention (known in our school as DT). It was in art class my freshman year and the teacher caught two other boys and myself messing around. Specifically we were pantsing each other. To pants another person meant that you pulled down someone pants as a sort of prank. Of course this was something only done among boys that had not yet reached a certain maturity level and was foolish enough to wear something that didn’t secure snugly around the waist. If you wore mesh shorts you should be fully prepared to have someone creep up behind you and pull down the legs coverings to your ankles, usually in front of a girl.
There were likely incidents of pantsing done as an act of picking on or bullying another person. And such an act if done today would be seen as harassment with the punishment would be much more severe. But back for the most part pantsing was boys being dumb and foolish.
Guys have this weird, not entirely healthy way of displaying hetero affection for one another. For example the above yearbook message was not meant to be, nor did I take it as, mean-spirited. It was just how we talked to each other in sarcastic, aggressive tones. There’s probably some deep sociological commentaries that could stem off of pantsing, like social dominance & non-verbal communications in male relationships, but it was really nothing more than immature actions, and, I’m willing to admit, something I’d find funny if I did it to a friend today.
“To the guy I love to pants.” – 6th grade, 1992
