12/12/97...

I really don't understand the need for uniforms... I see only one good reason for them; so a certain profession or team can be recognized... but e'en before the ad'ent of impersonations, uniforms were used... I can see for war, of course, 'cause you don't want to harm an ally, but otherwise, it just depersonalizes... it makes one part of a group of many, wearing the same thing, acting the same way, imprisoned in soul-sucking garb... I find dealing with professionals wearing street clothes a 'ery less anxiety-ridden experience... they seem so much more human and I would rather be dealing with a human than a one-in-a-series-of-many android... whene'er I am wearing a uniform I feel less of a unique human being and I feel I can't be myself and that I don't belong... it ends up putting a lot of unneeded stress in my life... I e'en get this feeling when "dressing up"... if I could gi'e a speech in the clothes I usually wear, I would feel so much more comfortable and consequently gi'e a better presentation... it's becoming increasingly difficult to be myself when people are constantly judging others by how they look or dress... this life is much too short for formality... e'erything should be done casually... let me wear my tattered coat, my worn-in comfortable shoes, my whate'er-I-want-to-wear, if you will... does it make me any less of a person?... does it make me a rebel without a clue?... does it make me a less knowledgeable person?... let me wear what I want without second thoughts so that I may be at least a little more comfortable in this stress-ridden world... let me be me...