On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 12:35:34 -0500, Crystal Fradette <sethra500 at gmail.com> wrote: > I hear ya. My dream would be to be a pirate from back in the day. But > I would feel so guilty stealing from people that I would return it, no > stand there like a moron fantasizing about taking it, but don't even > touch. But it would be soooo cool to be a pirate. That, and you need a > ship with sails. I'd be caught in 3 seconds! The characteristic of pirates that I find fascinating which I don't see in enough fantsy is the issue of their clothing. The reason that pirates wore all that colorful clothing was because they could. Back on the mainland (and islands), part of the class structure was enforced by clothing standards. You did *not* dress above your class. Nor did you dress below your class. This control was pervasive and effective. But it was flouted by the pirates who flaunted their attire. -- Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/