Image

The image we project is quite important in the world. Socrates stated that a person's beauty reflected the inner beauty of the person. I don't think that theory is necessarily borne out in the marketplace of the world, but it is clear that from a sociological and psychological standpoint that a person's outward image is important.

The lesson of the importance of outward image is a difficult one to teach to many. My wife has been trying to update my image for a long time. My mother before her tried to make me change my image from time to time, with middling results. Even my sister has tried to change my outward image, to update it to a certain extent.

The subject of personal idiosyncracies and differences in style has come up from time to time and you can't really get anywhere trying to convince someone else about the relative merits of one style of suit over another. There are subtle differences between what is acceptable dress in Atlanta compared to New York, Los Angeles or Boston. There is a difference between Atlanta and Charleston. Atlanta or Miami. Atlanta or Griffin, Georgia. This really doesn't mean that either is right or wrong, despite the protestations of those of us who make their living off of projecting style in the marketplace.

Style follows trends in the marketplace and the whims of some people who have no real connection to the everyday person on the streets of Atlanta or Griffin. It is amusing to me when I watch some shows on television dealing with style and dress and image. What is acceptable now won't be tomorrow. Yet, the 'truth' of what looks good is a tenuous truth at best.

Nevertheless, there are probably certain eternal truths we can acknowledge at any time. For instance, there is a time or place for almost anything. A worn t-shirt and shorts might find their place in the privacy of your home, perhaps even in the open air while doing yard work. At the beach in most parts of Florida, the acceptable dress is much more casual than on the streets of most cities, towns and hamlets. However, a worn t-shirt and shorts probably have no place in the business world, particularly, say, in a lawyer's office. Probably not even on a weekend.

However, the use of one's fingers to ingest cole slaw, even in the privacy of one's car, is apparently too much for anyone, even if that person has sufficient napkins to clean up the mess afterward. This is so, even if that person has no tools with which he might eat the cole slaw. In that regard, my brother, who has always been handy with the latest gadgets and technological tools available in the marketplace, has been kind enough to mail me a plastic 'spork' in case I find myself in such a predicament in the future.

If, in fact, there is a present conspiracy perpetrated by the denizens of fast food establishments to drag us all down to a level below which we are not comfortable, by denying us the simple tools of ingestion, then let it be understood, that we will not go down without a fight. Or without the appropriate tools with which to alleviate the problem.

Thanks to my brother for raising his elder sibling up above the common level of the great unwashed American public once again. Such a simple gift, yet such an act of true brotherhood. I hope I can provide my help in the future if ever it be needed.

And I promise to attempt to keep my image higher than the norm hereinafter.