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May 16, 2005

The sophisticated provincial—not

When I'm in NYC, I doubt that anyone mistakes me for a local. There's invisible yet perceptible and persistent hayseed behind my ears. But I do try not to embarrass the cosmopolitans I'm with. I try to hold the volume down on the laugh that C has characterized as a "cackle," and I try to dress presentably. Today I thought I was pulling it off reasonably well. Ah, vanity. After I arrived at the publisher's office, my editor had to take me aside and alert me to the fact that the bottom two buttons of my shirt were undone. ::sigh:: I might as well have been wearing bib overalls.

Posted by senioritis at May 16, 2005 09:47 PM

Comments

The oops, that's how some fads get their start!

Posted by: Derek at May 17, 2005 07:53 AM

Here. This is me. You ARE ME.

You, and susansinclair for wearing moccasins to an interview.

Recall when I wore my shirt backwards TWO DAYS A ROW.

Posted by: madeline at May 17, 2005 10:59 AM

So today Sandra and I both had a meeting at the publisher's, and she deliberately had the bottom button of her shirt unbuttoned. It was a test of social ethos. I'm from Appalachia, she's from England. Nobody told her that her shirt was unbuttoned.

Oh, lordie. I AM wearing bib overalls!

Or else Derek is right; now people think it's deliberate.

Personally, I'm betting on Option A.

Posted by: senioritis at May 17, 2005 09:50 PM

OK, here's a solution if that happens again--when they take you aside to tell you your buttons are undone, just say "I know that. I did it on purpose..."

On the other hand, that wouldn't have worked for me the time twelve years ago when I walked all over the big city of Shenzhen, China with my fly undone...

Posted by: Jonathan Benda at May 18, 2005 06:24 AM

And why I just confessed to that on the WorldWide Web is beyond me, too...

Posted by: Jonathan Benda at May 18, 2005 06:24 AM