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The topic was Fatherhood, but the set-up was a video about men who experienced domestic violence as children, then carried it forward as adults, until “fatherhood” changed everything.

KENNEDY…puts herself in her father’s shoes, quite literally.

My Collar’s Blue

Despite how much I talk about my father, I really don’t know all that much about him. It was only just recently that I learned about where he used to live when he was younger, and the schools he’d gone to growing up. We joke around all the time at home, but I can’t remember the last time we sat down and had a thoughtful conversation with each other. The solution for me was obvious. They say to really understand someone, you have to imagine yourself in their shoes and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

     So instead of going to school today, I put on my father’s shoes to really see what it’s like to be him. As soon as I laced his work boots on, I felt the difference immediately- almost like a transformation. My dreads started falling out, and my hairline receded. I felt an itch in my chin and soon my long crinkly beard started forming before my eyes. I also felt the years of blue collar work caught up with me instantly, my knees hurt and my back ached. These must be the eventual effects of blue collar work, no wonder why they look so similar. Right from the start, things were already going rough. When I got to the site late, I got chewed out by my supervisor and was told to get to work immediately. I had to climb down into a large hole in the middle of the road, something to do with distributing gas. Everyone was already doing their set job, so I tried to make myself look busy. After a couple minutes of banging my wrench on the pipes, I heard someone call for me.

Ethan: Aye Davon!

It was one of my co-workers.

Ethan: Go and run this to Pee Wee,

Kennedy Who?

Ethan: The big ol’ bald black guy near the site.

With that, I climbed back out and started jogging in the direction the guy had pointed. However, once I arrived, I encountered a new problem. There were too many people who fit the description of bald and black; it was like entering a flood full of milk duds. Took me hours to find PeeWee, but I eventually did. I may have only got a snippet of what my father does, but I guess I got a taste of the blue collar life. 

Kennedy Lewis

March 6, 2026