Love day goes emo

Seems there’s no stopping the post-punk youth subculture called emo from making everyone in the campus sickly sentimental.

Yes, even guys now flaunt their feelings—the sadder, the better they would match their somber, dark anime look: black skinny jeans, tight shirt or sweater, studded belts and arm bands, battered sneakers, black-rimmed glasses, and the trademark long bangs brushed to one side.

This get-up becomes the unofficial emo uniform on a regular wash day (Wednesday) but even on appointed day of fashion liberation in the campus, the emo guys are still likely to be seen walking the halls with a permanent sad look. It makes them feel cool.

Teachers, therefore, don’t really need to be alarmed. No need to call the guidance counselor, for now. Flaunting the suicidal look is just, well, a look. And like any juvenile fad, the emo cool, too, will pass.

One hint that it’s all largely a bandwagon was how fast black roses were sold in one makeshift flower stall at USC TC during Valentine’s Day. The entrepreneurial students took their cue from the much hyped the Black Valentine’s Day event in Manila sponsored by a shampoo for black hair.

In USC, most of the customers were still guys, but this time, some of them bought the artificially tinted black roses for themselves. They were seen proudly tucking their roses on the breast pocket of their uniform.

Though it wasn’t a wash day, the emo-romantics had their field day on Valentine’s Day, with some of them seen non-chalantly singing along to the angsty emo rock playing on their MP4.

No other day of the academic year allows public display of melodrama as Valentine’s Day but, for crying out loud, the emo guys still didn’t look happy.