I Guess He Wasn’t Hungry Like The Wolf

I witnessed this in the 1980s. Back then, “urban tribes” were a much more important thing than now. Either you belonged to a group or you didn’t, but if you did, there was a very specific code for how to dress and what to listen to. The three classmates in the story are all “paninari,” wearing colourful clothes of designer brands.

Classmate #1: “Hey, mate, do you like Dire Straits?”

Classmate #2: “Of course, I do! They’re the favourite band of the paninari!”

Classmate #1: “What the f***, mate? The favourite band of the paninari is Duran Duran!”

[Classmate #3], who heard the exchange, stood up without a word and started taking off his designer jumper, shirt, belt. He only stopped when [Classmate #1] retracted, but not before we saw that his fantasy-print Y-fronts were from a name brand, too!