Apathetically hip

I marvel at the way people in dreary jobs funk themselves up; as though having a wacky hairstyle (an odd angle here, a splash of outrageous colour there), or super groovy accessories (BRIGHT glasses frames, jewellery made exclusively of buttons and the skulls of small animals) or a slightly offbeat dress sense will make up for the drudgery of their workaday life. This phenomenon seems to be especially present in government jobs. If you don't have to suit it up, it seems, the dress code is instead to go a bit visually kooky.

Now I probably sound like a mega bitch right now. With an asymmetrical haircut, I also sound a bit like a hypocrite. And many of my friends reading this may well be looking at their outfits and thinking, shocked, 'Does she mean me?' No. I don't. I swear! I LOVE your outfits, and you. I'm not actually sniping at the way these people look; often I am in fact coveting various items.

I am temping at the moment (oh bane of my life), and have once again found myself recept-ing for a Minister's office. Now it seems that some of the most achingly quirky people I have seen work in senior government; they are also bitingly rude and dismissive. I guess my problem is seeing these outfits that scream 'Personality' on people who won't even look me in the eye as I do something for them, let alone smile or throw me a stray word. I can't help but suspect they may wear exciting clothes to make up for their lack of character, or to desperately inject some colour into their lacklustre worlds.

Of course, I may be completely wrong. If one of them would speak to me, they could well prove how fascinating they are in their own right. But until then, I shall sit alone at my boring reception desk, imagining how I too can make my work life a little more exciting. Maybe pink streaks in my hair?