The OUTLook: Boardshorts to Pinstripes

Making the transition from one city to the next can be life altering. Each city possesses a soul of it’s own and can offer totally different experiences from one day to the next.

Some cities thrive on the nightlife, while others wake up early to enjoy the morning sun. Certain cities brag about their coffee, while other cities can’t get enough of their Cosmos. Some cities keep you isolated in your dual air-bagged pod, while other cities require you to get cozy with a stranger pressing up to you in an underground vessel. And some cities stay a comfortable 78 degrees all year round, while other cities fluctuate from 12 to 101 degrees over a period of a few months. How does one make such a huge change? What to do? What to wear? How to adjust?

I can pretty much guarantee that everyone reading this is a city dweller. We all get “A’s” for that. If not, then you probably have children and you are safe where you are. Otherwise move to a big city near you. City life opens your eyes to the world. It forces you to climb out of your comfort zone and learn something new about yourself and about the people around you. Moving from one big city to another forces you out of your box even further. And once we are out of the boxes that we are born in, we see that we are all the same, and people just adapt to their surroundings to survive. AKA, we just dress different.

Last week I made the transition from 78 degree, coffee drinking, air-bagged pod Los Angeles to 101 degree, cosmo drinking, underground vessel New York City and was once again pulled out of my Boardshorts and into my Pinstripes. Instead of my cool pastel polo and light-weight pants, I’m once again sweating in my black suit and tie in order to survive in the New York jungle. This is one city where you are expected to dress the part. Why are clothes so important here? Is it because we work harder when we are in a business suit? Do people take us more seriously when sweat is beading down our forehead in the 100 degree, 85% humidity weather? Or is it because this is a walking city where we don’t have the status of a car to prove our worth? I am learning to figure it all out, step-by-step, dry cleaning bill after dry cleaning bill. Whatever the answer, I’ll just have to adapt and sweat through it…just like everybody else.