MY NEW FAVORITE COLOR

ORANGE YA GLAD I DIDN'T SAY BANANA?

Something just dawned me. My new favorite color is orange.

If you had asked me five minutes ago what my favorite color is, I would have said red. Why? Because that’s been my answer to that question since I was a kid. It has been automatic. It has been a sort of identity marker for me. I’m Chris. My favorite color is red. Like tomatoes.

But tomatoes aren’t red. They’re orange. And red hair really isn’t red either. It’s orange too.

And unfortunately, I can’t really use the word “orange” in a song. Nothing rhymes with orange…except maybe “door hinge.” Maybe I’ll try it out on the next CD.

One more problem. I can’t wear orange. Supposedly I’m a winter. Winter’s can’t wear orange. Somebody’s mom, who happened to be a color expert, informed me of this shortcoming of mine about ten years ago, within a few seconds of meeting her. I remember seeing the door open, and seeing her momentary smile morph into a look of disgust. The first thing out of her mouth was “Oh, that’s not a good color for you!” I was wearing an orange shirt. Whatever happened to “Hi Chris, nice to meet you?” I have had only one orange shirt since then. (I wear it proudly though, and hope I don’t run into any color experts on those days!)

Anyway, despite my lack of luck with wearing the color, my new favorite color is orange. I’m not the same guy I was decades ago, when you’re supposed to decide once and for all what your favorite color is. How can you know something that important when you’re only a kid?

And once you declare it, why can’t you change your answer? Why do you have to have a permanent favorite? It’s just a label. A category.

I can change! See, I just did!

Look at the towel hanging over my shower. It’s orange. The mouthwash I chose is orange in flavor and color. My face cleanser is in an orange tube. My toothbrush is orange. Come to think of it, so is my current choice in toothpaste. My shampoo is in an orange bottle. My other shampoo is in a clear bottle, but the shampoo is orange.

OK, so now it's obvious that I just came to this realization in the bathroom. And apparently, I didn’t JUST change. It seems to have happened over time, and I’m only now awakening to my new love for the color orange.

Not to mention how much I love the fruit with the same name. And the way it smells! Oh yeah, and my air freshener spray is orange scented.Which begs the question: Which came first, the fruit, or the color? Was the fruit named after the color, or was the color named after the fruit? Hmmmmm…

Regardless, I’m done with red. Coke owns red. Like The Weather Channel owns blue. Vincent Van Gogh owns yellow. So does National Geographic. So does McDonalds. How about UPS? (“What can brown do for you?”) Purple belongs to Barnie. The Beatles’ White album! John Deere Green. Get the picture?

Well, I want to own the color orange. Or at least name it after myself.

“Chris Rice Orange.” That sounds good.

I can see it on a Crayola crayon. On tubes of acrylic artist paints. As an option for a vehicle color. How about those paint sample cards at Home Depot (the current owner of the color orange). Speaking of orange…Move over University of Tennessee. There’s a new guy in town!

So, let me ask you. What’s your favorite color? Is it the same one you’ve had since you were a kid? Is it really still your favorite? Fine if it is, but have you really thought about it since then, or have you just given the automatic answer?

Rethink. Don’t go into automatic. Stretch. Grow. Change. It doesn’t hurt, and it makes life a little tastier, and it keeps people from locking you into a category. What is your favorite color, really…?

It’s ok. You can change back tomorrow if it doesn’t work out.