There are two sayings that we all know and love, trite and cliche as they may be (or get used): "never judge a book by its cover" and "wearing your heart on your sleeve." There are times that I forget about the first while living the second.

Since I was introduced into the underground music scene, nearly 20 years ago, I have always tried to search out other like-minded individuals. In "the scene," the music that one listens to often influences how one dresses (or one's preferred style of dress) so one of the ways that we would find others in "the scene" was by clothes (I know it sounds kind of sad but work with me here). Things were obviously a bit different in the pre-alternative explosion of the 1990's, but even after that point one could often approach someone who's wearing a t-shirt of a band that you like (which is how I met Otter) or dressed a certain way and strike up a conversation (which is how I met Danny). There was also a time that "the scene" was more inclusive than it is now. Many people nowadays get serious chips on their shoulders are shun those they do not know. This phenomenon has always saddened me because my first days in "the scene" were pretty wonderful. There was a group of kids who accepted me for who I was, no questions asked, and we shared music and friendship getting through the mess of high school. So in the honor of the inclusion that was shown to me, I have made a point to find others over the years to share the kindness that I was shown (I try to do this in general but it also applies here).

Fast-forward to a couple of weeks ago. There is a guy at my job who wears a leather jacket that has the names of many punk bands painted on it. So I happened to run into him and started up a conversation about Rancid. We chatted about some other bands (during which time I expressed my deep dislike of The Exploited) and I asked him what he thought of Minor Threat. I received a fairly blank stare in response. Now for those not well versed in punk rock or the underground scene, Minor Threat was one of the most important and influential hardcore bands of the 1980's. This is a band that I would expect anyone who knows the Misfits (one of this gentleman's favorite bands) to know. After a few other conversations I wrote down a list of band for this young man to check out. The list included 7 Seconds, Descendents, Husker Du, Swingin' Utters, The Replacements, Stiff Little Fingers, Screeching Weasel, Cock Sparrer, and The Minutemen. I will forgive someone for not knowing all of these bands, but he didn't know any of them. These are all classics and staples in "the scene" and I was honestly amazed that he knew none of them. I had judged the book by its cover.

This isn't the first time in recent years that I have run into similar situations. In some cases, they are kids that are new to "the scene" and are eager to learn and in some cases they are people who act like they already know it all. This guy at work seems to be in the middle of this spectrum, closer to the eager kid side. Sadly I get frustrated because so many time these are people who are putting on a fashion show and don't really care about the music or "the scene." With me, what you see is what you get. I don't dress like a slob or gutter punk but there is a definite punk/oi/indie rock style to my dress. In other words, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve.

Even though I'm sure that I will run into this type of situation many more times over the years, I highly doubt that I will ever try to stop finding those like-minded individuals to wax intellectual with about music (and anything else for that matter), yet I'm still reminded of Minor Threat's "Salad Days" nonetheless.