802

When you see these three numbers, you know.

8 0 2.

Yes! You feel pretty much the same as when you read, hear the name, or connect with someone from, the most beautiful state in the country, the state I live in, the state we much love:

V E R M O N T!

By Glenn Russell for the Free Press, with his permission

If you think of 802 as a significant number, one that triggers good old - and current - memories, and one that you would love to see printed even on your clothes, check the website of UVM grads, designers and founders of TophDaddy Designs.

These two young ladies, Becky and Melissa, have created an cool company and a great line of clothing inspired by the idea of area codes as numbers that automatically make you think about a place. Or maybe about the many phone conversations you made to someone special over there.

Their designs are about connecting and going to the basics of picking up the phone or conversing face to face with people, stopping spontaneously someone on the street and asking why she or he is wearing an 802 shirt. Or a 212, or a 671 one, depending on what is wearing whoever you stop on the street. The whole world does not live in Vermont, Mariana.

When I interviewed these women for a business story printed today in the Burlington Free Press, they inspired me, they comforted me with the idea that no matter where you are or where you go, you can always connect with someone who has shared something in common with you.

I did not ask them if they buy organic, fair-traded cotton or if they manufacture their tees locally because the story was not about that, but the concept behind their company really made me want to spend my money on their products. I would totally buy that.

Courtesy of TophDaddy