It was just another Thursday night happy hour with some of the guys from work. We were a plate of nachos and a few brews in when I say to the guys “you know what’s not easy? Blimping.” The guys just turned and looked at me and I could tell they were debating what on Earth I was talking about and how they should proceed with the conversation.

Wondering if I should let them think the half drank IPA hit me harder than they thought, I pointed out the “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy” shirt the guy across the room was wearing. I clarified that I had misread it initially as “Blimpin’” and had nodded to myself that yes, blimping is indeed not that easy. I mean, people die!

I went on to tell them that a “Blimpin’ Ain’t Easy” shirt would be a much better idea than a pimpin’ shirt. Of course, from here, the conversation turned to a hypothetical one of all our great t-shirt ideas for plays on words and altering the images to reflect the new phrasing while incorporating the original quip.

As life does, it went on. The conversation was left at happy hour and back to work we all went, just a normal Friday. The days passed into weeks and weeks faded into months. The conversation was all but forgotten to me, just banter over beer with the boys.

Nearly seven months after what is now referred to as “the event,” I arrived to work to find a brown paper gift bag sitting on my desk. Inside was a soft grey t-shirt folded haphazardly and tossed into the bag. I opened it up to see the large graphic of a blimp and a conductor in a tall top hat with a cane, long nails, dark sunglasses, and a robe-like velvet suit. In large, graffiti font that appeared in dripping paint, it read “Blimpin’ Ain’t Easy.”

I stood, holding the shirt out in front of me for a good minute and a half before I remembered happy hour conversation and began to laugh. My hypothetical t-shirt was right here in my hands. I wondered if the shirt had existed and someone stumbled across it, thought about me, and bought it, or if they had gone through the trouble of custom screen printing it for me.

As it turns out, one of the guys at happy hour is a graphic design artist in his downtime (well, at work too). Just messing around, he made the image. When one of our other friends announced that his brother worked at the local screen printing shop, they added the two together and made me the shirt. In fact, they were all wearing their own copies of the shirt.

Every time we wear our shirts — don’t worry, that was the only day we all wore them at the same time — we get compliments and it begins a conversation about the happy hour and the conversation of how blimping is much harder than pimping. I can always see on people’s faces as soon as I tell them it is a custom-made t-shirt, their eyes wander and they are no longer listening. They are daydreaming about all the things they would have printed on their custom t-shirt. I always follow it up with how I have since had several more of my brilliant ideas printed. Custom screen printed t-shirts are always a great gift and has become an office tradition.

At Shirt Shack of Nebraska, we make custom shirts for every occasion for our customers. From silly custom screen printed blimpin’ shirts to embroidered polos with your company logo for the entire office. For all of your custom shirt needs in Hastings or Kearney, stop by our local print shop. For customers in remote locations, contact us to see what we can do for you!