As Graham transitions from studenthood towards straight up adulting, I ponder what is the right cadence and pressure level at which to deliver messages to him about the transition. At times I am tempted to suggest that he think of every time he leaves the house to be a potential job interview. Not that he should put on a oxford shirt and khakis and real shoes, but maybe to dial back on the old t-shirts and gym shorts in favor of cargo shorts and short sleeve shirt just in case he runs into somebody who might be a potential employer.
I know I had to think like that for a while in my career. Not really dress up but not wear my absolute worst shorts to the grocery store in case I ran into a client or prospect. I am past that now but it took a while.
Then there's the issue of the ladies. What if you're at the library or a cafe or wherever you want to look not bad because... In some ways the fact that we were almost always seeking mates when we weren't in couples back in the day prepared us for later in life, when we had to figure out where to array ourselves vis-a-vis corporate norms to earn a living.
A precious few rock and rollers and other artist types got to say fuck it all and just do whatever and we always idolized them for their freedom.
Does this do violence to our individuality and self-expression, as has been a theme of lots of cultural production down through the years? Yeah, maybe. But then again, that's life.
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