Ever since a friend suggested a column idea to me, I started noticing some half-naked men around town.

“Why don’t you write a column about men not wearing shirts in public?” she suggested.

My initial reaction: Eeeeeew. But later that day when I was driving my car, I noticed one, then another, then a third shirtless guy at various spots along the way.

One was wearing a backpack. Wasn’t that uncomfortable?, I wondered, making a mental note to share all this with my friend.

This was earlier this summer, and nothing much ever came of it. I dropped the idea.

No shirt. No shoes. No column. But I do hope those men find their shirts before fall arrives. Much to my delight, other people I know often pass along column ideas to me.

My daughter, 11 years wise, is one of them. She not only offers an idea but also suggests how – and how not –to write about it.

“Don’t make it boring,” she’ll say. And that is an exact quote. Just this week she suggested I share with readers the suspense a middleschooler endures waiting for her new school schedule to arrive in the mail. The one that determines classes, teachers, team assignments, destiny.

“The mail came SOOOOOOOO late today,” she complained to me on the phone.

Even worse: No schedule. One time, when she was about 7, she sat at the kitchen counter and complained about something as earth-shattering as how a box of adhesive bandages came packaged.

I forget whether there were too many big ones or too many small ones, but something was bugging her.

“Why don’t you write a column about THAT?” she said.

I’ll give it some thought, I assured her. She was even younger when she recommended I write a column about the fancy design on her new notebook. It was glittery, after all, and thus column-worthy.

Other contributors? A friend of mine on numerous occasions has said to me, “I had a column idea for you, but I can’t remember it right now. I’ll think of it and call you later.”

Don’t these people know that they ARE my columns?

The friends, daughter and so many others – mother, neighbor, husband, dog – give me material every single day of my life.

All a cousin has to do is open her mouth and ask a question, and a column evolves on the difference between “first cousin” and “first cousin, once removed.”

A friend asks to borrow our white folding chairs for a block party, and her request turns into a column on the ongoing borrowing and lending of items among friends, relatives and neighbors.

My daughter suggests I write about her shiny notebook, and I suddenly notice all the glittery things that are part of a young girl’s world.

Glitter pencils. Glitter pens. Glitter glue. Glitter column.

Andy Rooney once wrote in one of his columns: “Some days it’s difficult for a writer to choose a subject from all the possibilities.”

So keep your shirts on. There’s always more to come.

smartin@buffnews.comnull