If life is a performance and we are all actors on stage, what does your costume say about you? Your clothes, hairstyle (if you have hair) car, choice of neighborhood, friends and acquaintances. It seems that our costumes are very important. I find it interesting how people in my area try so hard to be different with piercings, tattoos, dreadlocks Etc that they end up being the majority and not so individual. I have ran into individuals like this that do not want to be judged by their appearance but automatically judge others by their lack of the above.
By the way, everybody thinks I'm a cop. I've had people say "good evening officer." I guess it's just to let me know that they know I'm a cop. Funny! I'm not a cop. I'm a grocer and as wild and crazy as they get at our age. It's so much more fun to fool people with my costume! :D :drive: :cool: :X :kiss: :LOL: :hello:

By the way. Does anybody know the name of that movie or book where a sociologist goes undercover in the 60s segregated Southern United States by dying his skin black and interacting with both sides of the segregated population?
Little help please?

I've always worn my hair very short, still do, even what you'd call a crew cut. (Except for a short interlude in the '70s.) Sometimes people think I'm military, but I've never worn the uniform. Since I couldn't care less what's in or out of style, it's been fun noticing my hairstyle be in, then out, then in again over the 40 years of my career. Actually, when short hair came back a few years ago, I kind of cringed because I didn't want to be "in", or trying to look like I was.

Black Like Me

In the Deep South of the 1950s, journalist John Howard Griffin decided to cross the color line. Using medication that darkened his skin to deep brown, he exchanged his privileged life as a Southern white man for the disenfranchised world of an unemployed black man. His audacious, still chillingly relevant eyewitness history is a work about race and humanity-that in this new millennium still has something important to say to every American

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...501627?v=glance

J-

Wow! I knew you guys would come through. Thanks very much ReedZ. You've been an immense help. This is a piece of timeless literature. I was just speaking to a friend about this subject and recommended the book and or movie but couldn't precisely recall the name. Thanks again.

I spent a lot of years in the clothing industry. One of the things that you learn early on is that clothing helps people defined who they are. Clothing helps people to see themselves the way they want to and to project the image that they want people to see. Yes, oftentimes people see you based on the way they see you.

I think it was Michael Harrington in his book, "And the Poor Pay More" who said that the availability of clothing in America helps to disguise the povery. He said this over 30 years ago and its still true.

I guess I spent way to much time in the military, wearing that costume. Everyone on the outside (civilians) seem like freaks to me. :LOL:

I took a trip to Russia and Eastern Europe in 1993, and was struck by the care with which people dressed. Women wore a lot of makeup and men obviously took great pains with their clothes...I think this was their way of expressing their individuality against a repressive system.

I used to spend lots of money on clothes, wearing the latest styles -- now I've done a complete 180. Buying clothes is low on my list of priorities. I think age also has something to do with it -- I'm just not as self-conscious as I was in my 20s and early 30s.

Owning the S2000 also has a big impact on my self-image. It's strange -- I feel that with power comes responsibility, and driving this car makes me want to be both a better driver and a better person. It's had an interesting carry-over effect into the rest of my life. Funny how a hunk of metal can affect one!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ralper
I spent a lot of years in the clothing industry.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jrfblueeyes

That would be nice. I've always been fascinated by sociology and issues of this sort. Thanks again.