40$ DOWN and dressed for SUCCESS

So we went to a "day after thanksgivingish" sale saturday: REI's members only used gear sale. The line of yuppi's munching on granola bars dressed in tight earthy toned beanies and marmot jackets was wrapped clear around the Tualatin store (which is conveniently located next to a whole foods store).

The sale was outside of the store in a marked off area. There were a few clothes racks and boxes and tables packed with gear. Nice good expensive gear that is slighty used, but SOLD FOR NOTHING. I was amazed that everyone was making the mad dash for the clothing. We were at the end of the line, and by the time we got in there, there was a still a tower of sleeping bags left - think refridgerator box full of NICE bags. So we strolled in and picked up a subkilo for 40 bucks, usual price 140+. That's nice and all - but my point being that instead of grabbing the useful gear - all these hikers were running for the jackets and t-shirts with REI's logo.

Whatever - you can hike in clothes from the DI (see below) - but you gotta have nice gear. I guess that's just my opinion. Well the clothes look nice anyways, i needed a jacket for the rain here - so I picked up one from the aftermath for 10 bucks. I'm pretty sure people will now take me more seriously on the trail since i have a sierra designs jacket.

I guess appearances are everything anyways. I mean - I never played a guitar or beat on the drums in my life - but I was #1 vote for most likely to be a rock star in high school. All you got to do to fool people is dress the part.

Which leads to the main thing I have been thinking about: professional dress at work. For the first 7 months of my job I've gotten away with wearing the same pair of pants to work every day. They are now getting a little faded and I've been working several days in a row - so I switch it up for a skirt every once in a while. The crazy thing is how DIFFERENTLY people respond to me when I'm sporting a skirt, nylons and pearls. Patients turn off the TV when I come in to talk to them (amazing) - I've had a more than usual amount of patients mistake me for a MD - doctors have actually started asking for my opinion on patients - I've had a few nurses get off their computers for me - my coworkers are amazed - and people on the bus talk to me more.

Society is so silly. I don't wear a bandana to make a statement and to look like a punk rocker - I wear it to keep my hair out of my face. It's crazy how we base opinions on appearances - me included (there is a surgeon at the hospital with hair down to his butt and leathery fake baked skin - would I want him doing my reanastamosis....NO). I guess if I want to continue to be taken seriously - I better find some MORE skirts!