An Outward Manifestation

Though I wore a smile as I climbed onto the bus, the driver looked at me with concern -- as if I did not belong.  I was looking for my daughter, who was late arriving at the stop.  As I stepped up and looked around, every passenger got silent and stared at me.  I recall being surprised about my defensive feelings.  It was a city bus, and anyone may ride.  Then I recognized that, for multiple reasons, I did not fit in with "who rides the bus."

It may be convenient to get upset about "judging," but the fact remains that we make judgments about ourselves and others when we notice cues given by dress and grooming choices.  Is this really a bad thing?

About ten years ago, my husband sketched a handout with sixteen "men" on it.  Each drawing was only about two inches tall, had no eyes and was posed with feet together and hands down at the sides.  Even so, it was easy to recognize the difference between a used car salesman, a lawyer and a missionary.  The doctor was distinguishable from the camera-toting tourist and the wild-haired scientist in the lab coat.  The punk rocker was unlikely to be confused with the barbershop quartet guy.  Though they all wear boots, nobody mistakes Superman for a firefighter, a construction worker or a cowboy!  Also included were a scruffy teen in baggy pants, a bedecked gangster, a slouchy couch potato in his underwear and a guy wearing high-water pants and a pocket protector.

He numbered the images and presented this page as a matching game with statements such as:  Which might you expect to include "works well with animals" on his resume?  Which would you call to help fix your computer?  Which is most likely to have risked his life to help a family in danger?  Which would you want as your lead scientist on an expedition to Mars?

Participants were then asked to identify the three they would most wish to engage in conversation and the three they would feel least comfortable sitting next to on a bus trip to Idaho.

When I gave this handout to my three youngest children this morning, I was astonished at the immediacy of their answers and the consistency they achieved in matching the sketches with the statements.  Drugs are sold by a variety of people, but the gangster was the one they thought was most likely.  Domestic violence can happen anywhere, but nobody thought of the cowboy or the vacationer.  And everyone wanted the superhero on their side, if the plane they were traveling in began to plummet to the ground!

The way we dress invites people -- including ourselves -- to make judgments about who we are and what we value.  Carefully selected dress and grooming can be "an outward manifestation of an inner commitment" to follow Jesus Christ.