I know there are lots of people who will tell me that both of these are me. But I don't really buy it. One of these is the natural me and one is the me that takes a little effort. And I'm reconciled with the fact that I can't skate by on my looks or brains. I'm just not that lucky. Then again about 99.9% of us are in the same boat on that one.
And there is no place that's harder for me to reconcile these two sides than in my work place fashion (not where you thought I was going with that, is it?). I like fashion for the most part (especially when I've got something to wear). But am I the suit or the blue jeans? Our work place is fairly casual--I think most of California is--and while I don't mind it, I also miss the formality of a suit. In fact, some days I bust out my suit and rock it despite the fact that people stare and I look ridiculously overdressed.
I think that's the main issue. If it were one way or another, I'd have less of a hard time reconciling the two versions of me. If it were either business dress or casual dress, the choices are more cut and dried. More representative of the two sides of my life that I like to treat Jim Crow-style--separate but equal. (But in this case it's actually true and not just a way to legally dupe people out of rights).
But this whole "business casual" crap is messing with me. Be business or be casual. Don't be both. It just opens up the spectrum for too many interpretations--nearly all of them wrong. And it makes the dress code enforcement a little like playing games with the neighbor kids when you were young. The rules change as to who is making them up and it's all a moot point when it's dinner time or the street lights come on.
Until then I just hope I don't show up to work in my Scooby Doo pajama pants.
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