Mark KennedyI knew the whales before I knew the tale.
Last fall, while on vacation on a Disney cruise ship, I saw a family of four wearing identical powder-blue polo shirts. Each shirt had a little pink whale embroidered on the front.
These travelers — a mom and dad and two pleasingly plump kids, a boy and a girl — were so fresh-scrubbed their cheeks glowed. And they were clearly proud of their clothes, which I imagine were laid out with great care the night before, patted down to prevent wrinkling and paired with complementary khaki walking shorts.
These merry cruisers seemed to be intentionally drawing their shoulders back and elevating their chests to call attention to their hard-earned whales.
“Hmm,” I thought, “I wonder what’s up with the fish shirts?”