Official stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb day!

I kind of wish I'd remembered it was Blue Jeans day at work yesterday BEFORE I put on my brand spanking new snazzy shirt from Penney's. From the moment I walked in and saw people in jeans I thought, "Whoops!" It's not that I would have dressed down for Blue Jeans day--I never do. But at least I would have known better than to DRESS UP! Such a faux-pas. Me in my radiant, bright salmon-colored dress shirt and everyone else in blue jeans and sneakers. The day is quite appropriately called by Andrea "Official stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb day!"

Officially, it's Blue Jeans for Charity day. We have it once a month, and employees have to chip in a few bucks to be able to dress casually. The money is then donated to a charity such as the NH Food Bank or NH Association for the Blind. At least our company makes something honorable out of slackishness. Lindsay says at her company they donate into a pot which then pays for department pizza parties and such. That is a crying shame!

I got quite a few compliments on my shirt, though, along with one girl, Kelly from Compliance, telling me that I kind of overdid it dressing like that on blue jeans day. This same girl, the other day, when it slipped out that I still lived at home (and I'm 25!), asked me, "Don't you think it's about time you were moving out on your own? Don't you get tired of your parents?" I was taken aback, especially by the tinge of "Um, are you normal?" sentiment that I detected. I emphatically told her that, no, I shouldn't be moving out on my own and explained that I had been home-schooled for ten years so my parents weren't really an issue. Not sure that helped my case any! Martha helped by pitching in that I had been in school, which is an excellent point. Just how and when did she think I should get my own place, travelling constantly between Hartford and NH, working in Keene, hoping to go to grad school and in the meantime travel the world? Moving out would make not an ounce of sense at this stage in my life.

Besides, moving into an apartment by myself with the money I make at the bank...let's just say I couldn't afford much besides my rent, car expenses, and bread and water. But to this girl and others that's not a problem because they don't move out on their own. They move in with someone special and share expenses. Or they go ridiculously into debt. Um, neither of those are really an option for me.

I got really annoyed at the scenario. Rant against cultural constructs forthcoming. Yes, I'm 25, and still living at home after three years of Bible School and getting a college degree, tentatively seeking out the next step. She is twenty-two, and is shacked up with her boyfriend to whom she is not married. And yet she and all the rest of culture look at ME as the one at fault! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE??? Everyone, when they hit 18, moves out and, at least among those working at the bank, move in with a significant other. Another girl in the Compliance dept. just turned 23, yet she had two kids with her boyfriend before he left her probably a year-and-a-half ago, and now they fight over their two adorable toddlers. But who at the bank is abnormal??? CRAIG IS ABNORMAL! Of course.

Everything is so twisted.

Kelly got engaged this week, diamond ring and all, which is a step in the right direction, but they haven't set a date because they want to wait a while. Excuse me for sounding dubious, but two years ago around Christmas the girl with the two toddlers ALSO got engaged with a diamond ring to the man from whom she is now alienated, and they also didn't have a date. What good did it do her?

All is messed up, and I'm frustrated that I should be the one looked at askance.

And to cheer everything in this post up a bit, I found a customer yesterday whose last name was Zitz. Okay, I know when it's spelled it's not quite as effective, but imagine speaking it, introducing yourself, having your name called in the waiting room, etc.: "Mr Zitz..." Most unfortunate.