Does This Make Me Socially Maladjusted?

I love weather in the 50s and 60s. I think of this as "Sweatshirts and Shorts" weather. In the autumn, I'll wear shorts until it's painful or foolish for me to do so, and I probably start wearing them in the spring earlier than what makes sense. In my defense, I'm surrounded by 11-year-olds who start wearing shorts WAY too early, so maybe I'm taking advantage of that misguided social cue as an excuse. And sweatshirts? Love 'em. Big, baggy, loose, comfortable, warm. Those select few weeks when I can get away with wearing both shorts and sweatshirts at the same time are golden.

One of my current favorites in the sweatshirt rotation is one my sister bought me last year. She was on vacation with her family, and during the trip took Nephew #1 on one of his first college visits to Northern Michigan University, which is where she got this sweatshirt. Nice and thick, very comfortable, a great fit. And it says "Northern Michigan University" in big yellow letters right on the front.

Do I have any allegiance to this school? No. I don't even have any allegiance to my own alma mater. Is Nephew #1 going to school there? Very small chance. But I still wear it because it's an awesome sweatshirt.

Now, this is not a well-known school for people two states away. And here's the thing: It seems people from Michigan are always surprised to see someone wearing NMU. And so very often, they feel the need to comment on it. "I love your sweatshirt," they say. "That's where I went!" they tell me. Blah blah Michigan blah. It makes me wonder, because if I saw a complete stranger wearing a shirt from my college, I wouldn't go up and engage them in discussion about it. Do these people realize exactly who they're trying to talk to?

Obviously not. So to entertain myself, I've started inventing back stories about my ties to NMU:

"Oh, yeah, my daughter goes there."
"Sure, I went there for two years before my raging alcoholism forced me to drop out."
"My uncle Charlie left me this after he died. It's all I have to remember him by."
"I've never been there, but my grandmother was on the Board of Regents for thirty years, and she always sends me a new one of these every year for Christmas."
"Oh, thanks! Yeah, I was just hired as a full professor in the criminal psychology department for fall semester 2011."
"I used this to sneak in to an audition for 'Non-Traditional Student College Jeopardy,' because you need to wear a sweatshirt from your school on the show, and I'm one of those geniuses with limited interpersonal communication skills who isn't able to thrive in a standard educational setting."

Now, I haven't actually used any of these. But it sure would be fun to try. Because any of these stories would be more interesting than, "Um, my sister gave it to me...."