2005-07-29 - 2:27 a.m.
I give the rat 50-50 odds
It�s hard to help people
It�s harder to help people when you look like I do. Most of the time I bother with my appearance about as much as Tom Cruise bothers with reality.
Since I work for myself, and 90%of the time I work alone, combing my hair in the morning is usually as far as grooming goes. I only really comb it so I can tie it back and get it out of the way. I tend to keep my everyday appearance somewhere between , �Just got out of the county jail� and �Hey buddy can you spare a dime?�
Shaving�, once a week for church on Sunday. If I don�t go to church that week.., no shave.
Most of that is because I hate shaving, it reminds me of being in the service.
Clothes? If I�m going out with friends I try not to be an embarrassment, other than that anything goes.
All this comes to mind because of a minor incident in Sam�s Club. I overheard the lady in front of me talking on her cell phone. She was calling someone to come pick her up because her car wouldn�t start.
After the person she called declined, she started to dial another number. I asked her if she wanted me to take a look and see if I could get her car started.
She looked at me for a second, mind racing to find a polite way to say �hell no hobo!�
�Oh that�s OK, I should be able to get a hold of someone.�
It�s possible that it wasn�t my appearance, but it�s certainly not the first time something like this has happened.
I always pull off to help out a car on the side of the road, most of the time the needy soul is immensely grateful, and I get that little high from helping people out.
But not always. I pulled off one time and this dude runs back into his car and locks the door. Took me a while to pry him out of there too.
I�m a pretty big dude in the real world and that doesn�t make things any easier. The SCA shifts reality like a nearby black hole. In the society a guy like me can feel pretty average with hulking masses like Egil and Kevin clomping around.
It didn�t help things when I still drove my child molester van, mothers would grab their kids and reach for the mace when I drove by in that thing. You would think I had �Free Candy� spray-painted on the side.
At some point I will have to start keeping track of my appearance again, I plan on being a pastor someday, and unless I find an outstandingly progressive church I�ll have to at least start shaving again, or maybe grow a beard and keep it trimmed. I�ll have to ditch the cut offs for slacks and the holy t-shirts for holy vestments All this is terribly ironic when you think of the founders of the faith.
I don�t know the exact moment I completely gave up on �appearance maintenance� probably shortly after I started working for myself. Maybe it�s because when you have as many problem as I do keeping your mustache trimmed falls by the wayside.
Anyway, I think maybe moving up to Maryland will be a good time for a fresh start. I might try to glance in a mirror once in a while, and at least try to look like a reformed barbarian when I go out to the store.
I�m keeping the hair, and yes Bryce, you can still sing �Long Haired Red Neck� but you�ll feel a bit lacking in the chorus, but don�t worry I�m keepin� the dream alive.
Justus
