The Universal Appeal of Mr. T

I have always appreciated Mr T - he is such a unique character. His fierceness, his style, and those catchphrases - I love it. Ever since the days of the A-Team, I was fascinated with how he could say whatever he wanted and back it up. He is the complete opposite of me, except for the scowls.

I’ve actually read Mr. T’s autobiography. My favorite photo is one of him with Nancy Reagan, because it is bizarre and random. A couple of years ago, I ran across an item that I was contractually obligated to bring into my possession: a keychain called "Mr. T In Your Pocket". It has six buttons, each corresponding to a Mr. T catchphrase that he recorded. Push one button, and it says, "QUIT YOUR JIBBA-JABBA". Another one says, "DON'T GIVE ME NO BACK TALK, SUCKA!". Victoria left that one on a friend’s voice mail, and all he heard was the end of the message and thought someone phoned him up and called him a cocksucker. That wasn’t just someone Fool, that was Mr. T.!

This delightful toy came with an order form where you could get two free Mr. T stickers. And you know I sent off for those. I gave one to Natasha, and saved mine for the longest time while trying to figure out how Mr. T could be of service. He finally took his place of honor on the back of a pristine new clipboard I bought for work. I convinced Natasha of the brilliance of doing the same, thinking that someone would notice at least one of us and be secretly pleased that such cool people walk around with Mr. T clipboards.

Today, it happened. One of Natasha’s colleagues came up to her and said, "Oh wow, you really do have Mr. T on your clipboard!"

The word is out, people.