Workingman’s Blues Revisited
I don’t know if I can explain how good it feels to be typing this post on my own computer, in my own room, listening to the gentle 80’s inspired crooning of The Editors on my very own internet connection.
[Sigh of contentment]
Now, next problem to unstick is the job situation. Most of my limited internet time for the last few weeks has been dedicated to making sure I have enough money to eat in a couple of months. That being said, for this carnivore it was a damn pleasant surprise to discover how cheap meat is here in Oz. It’s been hard for me not to devour T-bones by the dozen after three and a half years of piss-poor overpriced beef in Blighty. The price of meat is neither here nor there because without a regular paycheck anything over, oh, free is going to be out of my price range.
There has been progress. I’ve been to a couple of interviews and I’ve got a couple more in the pipe. I’m optimistic. I’m not being more specific because I don’t want to jinx anything. (Loyal readers may remember a post in which I claimed not to believe in jinxes. Well, that was a big fucking jinx.) One of the upcoming interviews is for a proper grown-up job. A job in the city, in an office tower. A job with a healthy grown-up salary. A job that requires me to look the part.
When I was about 25, I had a shaved head, multiple piercings, tattoos, painted nails and all manner of bizarre accoutrements to go with the look. And that was OK for Seattle in the mid-90s. Things have kind of gotten a bit more subtle as I’ve gotten older and moved to regressively more conservative parts of the country but even recently I fancied my look a little edgy in that mid-30’s dad kind of way.
Not so much as of this weekend. We went and bought a suit for the interview. A suit. I have never owned nor wished to own a suit. I haven’t worked a job since I was in my teens that required me to wear a tie. I’ve always consider my friends who donned pinstripes to be sell outs. But that could all change if things go well and do you know what, that’s OK for Adelaide in the late naughties. Maybe the time has come for me to put on a suit and join the ranks of the older (and wealthier) because I’m older (and wouldn’t mind being wealthier) too. I definitely own a suit as we had to let the pants out - all those T-bones, I’m guessing.
So, on Friday I’ll put on my suit and go and do my damndest to convince the suits to let me join their ranks. And I’ll be thrilled if I get the job, absolutely thrilled. And I’ll happily put on a suit every morning to go to work. I did look pretty sharp when I tried it on even if it stung a little when I took my earrings out.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Khaki pants are the norm here…surprisingly comfortable…
21 May 2008 at 3:44 pm
I’ve tried to explain my opinion on this so many times. I’ve tried to tell more than one wildly independent unique friend putting on a suit isn’t selling out at all! It doesn’t even have to mean you’re being forced to grow up!
It’s all in the attitude. How you WEAR the clothing. I’ve worked with men that were so creative and spontaneous and oozed a strong sense of exactly who they were while looking like they stepped straight out of a business magazine. Sex appeal seeping out of every pinstripe. No one had a clue how many piercings and tatts were under those clothes.
And right now I have a nephew who has 4 tatts and 7 piercings, and I’ve never met a bigger sell out.
It’s a new phase in your life, and looking at your pictures, I have no doubt you’re hot as hell in that suit. Put it on and go get that job. Zach wants a bigger jail cell!
21 May 2008 at 4:37 pm
Like Angel said, with the right attitude suits are damn sexy. Good luck with the job.
Ship me some t-bones would ya?
Vixen’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday-The west coast has the sunshine And the Girls all Get So Tanned
21 May 2008 at 6:42 pm
I hope the interview goes well! I think we need to see a picture of FancyChris.
21 May 2008 at 7:37 pm
hi. first time here & i must i am enjoying what i read. the baby’s pics are adoring. most of all, i like ur writing style — simple & honest.
maybe that is what we call power dressing — dress to impress, dress to rule. you will be fine, even if you are not, just play it out. good luck on ur interviews.
the suspect’s last blog post..Manners of the Unconventional Virgin: The Tiny Box
21 May 2008 at 8:10 pm
“Loyal readers may remember a post in which I claimed not to believe in jinxes. Well, that was a big fucking jinx.”
THAT made me giggle.
Good luck with the interview, and I completely second what Angel said. Its all who you are and not what you look like. We all have to play the game, its whose rules you are using to play it that matters.
Plus suits are sexy. Even more so when there are tattoos and piercings involved.
21 May 2008 at 8:15 pm
I agree with Nichole… pictures are needed!
21 May 2008 at 10:03 pm
So this won’t mean much coming from me, but I don’t think wearing a suit makes you a sell-out at all. I think it makes you ambitious to be a good provider for your family. Relying on clothes and earrings to define who you are… you are so much more than that. Your intellect and wit are what draws people to you (at least on the internet, and I would assume in real life). If those things are housed in a nice suit, all the better.
Jessica K’s last blog post..It’s Starting to Feel Like Summer!
21 May 2008 at 11:01 pm
Without fail, if a man comes into the room dressed sharply in a good suit and with a great tie, he will set the mood (this goes for a well-dressed woman, too). It’s not a sell-out, it’s a very clever way to get off on the right foot at a job interview. A few weeks ago I interviewed five people for a mostly manual-labour kind of job (in an art studio) and the one guy that came in wearing a suit drew very approving comments from the Panel. His answers weren’t necessarily better than the others, but everyone was impressed that he had worn a suit despite the fact that when he starts the job he’ll probably mostly be wearing overalls. If you can get the Panel liking you right off the bat, there’s a very good chance they’ll overlook little glitches in your responses. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times.
There’s a chapter in my book that revolves around what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate to wear to an interview, and how the Panel members respond. Oh, the things I’ve seen…
Trish’s last blog post..What’s in it for us?
22 May 2008 at 12:20 am
Okay, this might get long so bear with me.
In one of my Ed classes, we had a big discussion regarding the movement towards uniforms in public schools. I was the only person in the room for it, and I was the only one who had worn a uniform to school. For eight years, no less.
I said the argument that uniforms (read “suits” for you) reinforced conformity was crap. That putting 3o kids in a room wearing the exact same outfit actually promotes individuality and creativity. A turn of the collar, a tying of the laces. A million subtle indications of individuality become apparent.
And on the days when the kids are actually allowed to choose their own clothes, they are going to make for damn sure they don’t wear the same thing as their friends just because it is the “in” thing.
So revel in your suit. I know you will find ways to make it funky and cool. A jolly roger tie. Socks with naked chicks on them. You are going to wear it and make it look good, baby.
Not Afraid To Use It’s last blog post..WW: Now That’s What I Call A Spigot
22 May 2008 at 3:05 am
If I were a skeptic, I’d translate this to mean: I’m eating lots of stringy kangaroo, and staring down the barrel of life in a cubicle.
I know that’s not the case. But I thought that was a good sentence, and I hated not to use it.
Ray’s last blog post..Duped!
22 May 2008 at 3:24 am
We’ll see what we can do about photos - depending on the interview results it may be the only time I wear a suit…
Thanks for convincing me that I’m not selling out - except for Ray, who sums things up with a healthy helping of skepticism.
22 May 2008 at 3:32 am
Yes, but staring down the barrel of life in a cubicle means you get to quote Office Space every day and listen to Michael Bolton.
Not Afraid To Use It’s last blog post..WW: Now That’s What I Call A Spigot
22 May 2008 at 3:38 am
I don’t know about the latter, but the former sounds fun.
22 May 2008 at 3:56 am
Oh yeah, and I’m all for school uniforms. I wish we had them when I was in school. Would have erased a lot of really questionable fashion decisions.
22 May 2008 at 4:27 am
Who cares what the hell you’re wearing , as long as you’re doing something you somewhat enjoy (e.g. waking up not dreading each day). You’ve got it good with the wife and kid. Hell, I think suits can be kinda cool. Go with the Ray Davies look from “Give The People What They Want” era and some Docs, and you’re set.
22 May 2008 at 4:32 am
For all the Chris fans out there, I promise to try to get a picture of him looking his finest in the very nice suit he bought. Although I would have no idea how to post the picture…that will be up to him.
22 May 2008 at 6:56 am
hehe
you shoulda left the earrings in though, and got a gangster suit like SPG did in his Viva, or gone new mod with drain pipe trousers?
sweeeeeeeeeeeet
working the geek chic with dem glasses too?
22 May 2008 at 12:10 pm
Good luck, good luck, good luck! And I bet you look smart in that suit.
Gypsy’s last blog post..Tell me what you want, what you really, really want
22 May 2008 at 4:37 pm
That’s the thing about suits, brother - if you’re even REMOTELY passable to the eye, you’re going to look fucking rad.
If nothing else, that’s a pretty badass fact to fall back on.
22 May 2008 at 5:39 pm
My husband is the only person in the world who doesn’t make a suit look sexy. Things have come full circle you realise because all the young blokes are wearing suits nowadays. And Ray? Kangaroo meat is NOT stringy. A little ropey perhaps……..
arizaphale’s last blog post..Best Shot Monday: A Boy and His Cat
22 May 2008 at 10:28 pm
You have a “selling out” category now. Nice!
So, obviously I was behind in reading this, but if I’m not mistaken, Friday was yesterday. Except it’s different down there in backwards land.
Forgodssake don’t make me do math, just tell us how it went!!!!
Maggie, dammit’s last blog post..Sophie
24 May 2008 at 3:50 pm
Good luck. Hope the interview process went well.
Do avoid the growing up part of the interview.
26 May 2008 at 5:48 am
[…] and do some communications course work? What about a business certificate so I can put that suit to good use? Or should I consider my geography and get some environmental engineering or water […]
15 Oct 2008 at 2:37 pm