A surprise in a Wal-Mart shirt

Jan. 26, 2004

Tess,

A couple of years ago sometime, I bought a workout shirt from Wal-Mart. Mom was getting something there and I decided to go because I needed a new shirt to sweat up at the gym and I had nothing better to do.

Because I buy men's stuff, I find more often than not the armholes are too big. Since I liked the shirt anyway, because it was long enough I decided I'd get it and modify it. Shirts are always made too short for me (even men's, sometimes). I am tall, so shirts usually do not fall where I like them to fall on my hips. So when I find a long enough shirt I try to get it. Because I can sew (not at an expert level or anything, just basic stuff) I decided to take up the armholes in a rather cool manner and alter the design by installing "panels" in the pits to hide parts that need not be showing. (it turned out pretty cool looking too, I got compliments on it)

Well, I laid the shirt on the table. I started to cut where I needed to cut. As I cut my shirt, I hit something hard in the fabric, embedded in it. It was a little less than about a quarter inch big. It made a faint noise as the scissors banged into it. I put down my scissors, picked at the fabric and found a computer-type chip.

I tried to pull it out with my fingers and I got a small shock. I had to cut more into the shirt to cut around the damn thing to get it out. I pulled the fabric apart, and sure enough a thin metal/plastic tag was there between the layers with very tiny metal prongs holding it. Prongs you wouldn't notice easily at all without a strong light and knowing exactly where to look.

I banged the metal casing apart with a ball peen hammer, and the thing cracked open. It had very tiny circuits on a plastic dot.

Back at whatever place they receive the information from that tag, whatever people were listening, I wonder if their ears got screamed off by the feedback of that chip meeting scissor, or some computer network crashed when those scissors cut into the truth that big brother was here -- hiding in the left armpit of my workout shirt.

I guess Wal-Mart doesn't expect people to know how to alter the clothes they sell.

Well, my workout shirt is tag-free (I hope) and it fits me now. But I still wonder whether there are other tags in it.

I have considered cutting my shirt into tiny strips to see if there are any more tags because I'm curious.

And I will do that when that shirt gets crappy and old and the sweat scent can't be washed out anymore.

I'll letcha all know what I find ...

=U Panther=