7/30/2000

"What's in a name?" or "How I became the 'Citrus Commando'"

1) I like to wear orange. Everyone develops their own style and taste in clothing during their teenage years, and since I had no direction at the time to help me discover what was "trendy" or "fashionable", I just picked what I found to be visually appealing. Bright, deep, and vibrant colors are what work for me. So, I just got into wearing shirts that were in colors that I like, orange being at the top of the list. My other favorite color is imperial purple. It's a real shame that those two colors clash horribly, else I could wear them together.

2) Back in my high school days, I earned spending money by working at the local ice cream parlor. We made all kinds of tasty frozen treats there, including fruity sherbets. (Note: It's pronounced "sure-bet", and NOT "sure-bert". Just wanted to clear that up...) One of the ingredients that we got by the gallon from our food service supplier for the purpose of making fruity sherbets was an approximately 1-Molar citric acid solution. For those of you who aren't chemists, suffice it to say that a little of this stuff goes a long way. We would add a few tablespoons of this stuff to a 6-gallon batch to give it some zing. And, what's a good lemony sherbet without zing?
Anyway, once I got wind of just how concentrated this stuff was, I became really dangerous. In fact, people who got on my bad side were better served to not order any milkshakes from me. For a while, I was an absolute terror with the stuff. Then, I just kind of got bored with it.
But, the name stuck.

So, there you have it. Not as interesting as you thought it would be, was it?
- Brian