I watched the shaggy tufts of dirty blond hair rise up from the desk and walk towards the podium. The bedraggled student was about to deliver his presentation for our freshmen seminar class, and the image he presented could not have better epitomized an oxymoron. The unwashed mop of hair, the scruffy, unshaven cheeks, and the bloodshot bespectacled eyes crashed with unstoppable velocity into the poorly cut tan suit donned for the occasion. His black, leather dress shoes peaked out from under his pants legs apologetically, as if aware of how out of place the whole outfit was. His blue tie swung only inches from his 7 day beard. His fidgety manner with the class and even with himself made the picture even more uncomfortable, and I sat in my seat, pondering why he would bother wearing a suit to a 1 credit class to deliver a 10 minute speech to which the rest of us had worn sweat pants...
Chapter 11 in our RCL book, concerning ethical proof, struck me as a possible explanation for the kid's strange urge to fancy himself up for an occasion that meant so little to everyone else. "Whatever the speaker's true ethical commitments, what is important, again, is our perception of the speaker." Ahhhh.
The kid got out of bed that morning, thought about his day, remembered he had a presentation to deliver, and then conceived the impression he wanted us to take away from his physical appearance: one of professionalism and scholarly aptitude. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten, ignored, or been generally unaware of other necessary steps to achieving that impression (i.e., shaving, brushing hair, getting a good night's sleep...) Nevertheless, the suit and tie unmistakably conveyed the idea that this young gentleman put a generous amount of thought into how he wished to appear to the audience, and how he wished to for them to filter his message through the positive perception his appearance created. Even though he failed to take into account that the contrasts in his image were so great they negated that positive perception, he undeniably took the first step in building up his ethos as a public speaker. Well done, shaggy.
I like that you call him shaggy, makes me laugh. I love your intro I felt like I was starting a book. And about his suit, it's funny to think of the contradiction that his suit and bodily appearance made but at least he made an effort (in the clothing side anyways).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Molly, I really liked your writing on this one. & good point--there's a lot more to appearance than what you wear!
ReplyDeleteYou have a distinct, descriptive style of writing. Good post here.
ReplyDeleteInteresting details... for a moment I thought you were just going to stay on the topic of how poorly he prepared but I love that you switched it to saying how he did put thought into his presentation. I'm interested in what his speech was that he felt the need to dress up but not shave and brush his hair.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of sounds like me seemingly overdressing for my presentation for our class. I was the only one who wore dress slacks that I saw. I figured, it's a presentation, I want to look decent. I don't want people gawking at my tattered jeans, I'd rather them be confused as to why I am so dressed up. I didn't do that intentionally however, I thought that everyone would dress up.
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