Monday, February 01, 2010

On not being 'the type'

I overheard a conversation today between two members of the sales staff at a sporting goods shop. They were discussing someone who wore one of those ankle tag doodads and were expressing their surprise and disbelief. This person was apparently not 'the type'. Too old, too fit and too respectable looking, it seemed.

I was a little surprised to realise that they were talking about me.

Apparently, one of the sales assistants had briefly spotted - from under the fitting room door - the weight strapped around my left ankle, and leapt to conclusions. How odd that in a sporting goods store, their first thought would be ASBOs, rather than fitness! After all, I'm fairly sure that they sell these things there.

Perhaps it's because I only wear one (in attempt to address the fact that my right leg is visibly more muscular and better toned than my left).

I once encountered a woman on a train who was on her way back from having had her tag removed. She was very proud of this fact, and was showing her tan line to anyone who would listen. To my prejudiced eyes, she was every inch 'the type' and she got on the wrong side of me when she tried to light up a cigarette in the train carriage.

I'm very glad that I'm not 'the type'. I'm also glad that I give the impression of physical fitness and respectability. I'm less pleased that I appear to be too old to make trouble! It gets my dander up ;o)

I'm saddened for people who seem like 'the type', but who wouldn't dream of doing the sort of thing that would earn them an ankle tag. That must be quite a barrier to overcome in life.

2 comments:

V Yonkers said...

Yes, well, mention "not the type" to those who lost millions to people like Bernie Merdof. Likewise, many might not think you are the "type" to be on facebook or cutting edge technology. One of the frustrations I have is not being able to get the level of training I'd like to use in my classes, because university professors aren't the "type" to know how to use any kind of technology.

The upsycho said...

@V_Yonkers Oh, I hear ya! I think Marc Prensky did us all a bit of a disservice there, with his natives and immigrants stuff, leaving us pigeon-holed as people more suited to old fashioned chalk and talk!