Khaki is the new trash

I have a dilemma. I'm starting a new job soon. It will be the first job where I will be required to wear business casual attire daily.

Don't get me wrong. I can dress. I used to gear it up for work with absolutely no justifiable reason, back when I could wear a ballcap and shorts on summer days because I worked in the sports department.

I have enough of business casual wear to last a month if not longer. But that's not the problem.

Problem: I still have Khaki pants in my closet. I never - and I mean never - wear Khaki. But I need to get rid of them, all five pair. Like, yesterday.

I have about 20 pair of slacks. But I already know that on some random Tuesday I will long to slip back into that comfortable, yet sturdy feel of the Khaki, one different from the any other pant. I'll want to wear them to work. But I can't.

To understand why I this would be an egregious error to my style I must take you back, back into time.

The school year was 1993-94. Rayon and Silk button-down shirts were the in styles for the black man. But we ran into a problem that abruptly ended this fad. You couldn't sweat in either fabric. If you did, you would ruin said shirt and no girl who saw you with that shirt on would talk to you. Oh they would talk, but it would be about you.

So, with Snoop Dogg's help at the Vibe or Source Awards and Boyz II Men's Alexander Vanderpool feel, we transitioned to what I called the "uniform" look. It consisted of the name brands Tommy Hilifiger, Nautica, Polo, Dockers and Eastlands.

Trust me, you were nothing without a pair of Eastlands. One of the few pants that fit properly on top of the Eastlands were the Khaki pant. I can't tell you why, I just know it was part of the uniform, thus I followed the trend.

I lined my closet with Dockers, no Dickies please, from about 1996 to 2003. Then somehow, some way, the Khaki pant disappeared from the black man's wearable wardrobe.

I received no memo, but it seemed that all at once, black men stopped rocking clean Khaki pants. The cargo look was there for a sec over the Tims, but no regular Dockers.

Thus, I followed suit.

Do you see my dilemma now? I prefer jeans, and wear them regularly. But they won't work for work. I haven't worn a pair of Khakis since about 2003 or '04. And I know I will want to put them on because it's work.

But they're a major no-no. What to do?

I'm really tempted to burn or trash them for fear that I might actually pull them out one morning. I'll end up in front of the mirror saying "you know, that doesn't look half-bad."

But it will look/be all bad by lunch. Really, what am I going to do? I don't know.

Suggestions are welcome.