Reality Crashes Down on All of us

When I got home today, my mother, Janice, asked me if I was concerned about my hair. Janice is concerned about something she often refers to as 'reality' that is she is concerned that I won't get a job because of my hair.
My hair is a buzz cut at 3mm elstwise known I think as the no.2 however I am confused as to whether no.1 or no.0 is 0mm. Except in an almost straight wedge down the middle of my head is a patch of hair that has not been shaved, this haircut becomes what is commonly known as a mohawk.
One would be hardpressed to throw this one in with the punk crowd though as it is a) still fairly short and b) devoid of any or all product.
But I'm not here to defend my hair before a court of law, or classify my hair.
Its more because I need to add one irksome tactic of concerned parents to my lexicon of anxiety.

reality.

What the fuck is it? Example, when travelling keep your hands in your pockets, fingers touching your wallet, ipod, camera or mobile phone at all times.
Ridiculous, people don't travel that way. However the reality is that people do get robbed.
You can't argue with that people do get robbed. But even in the most dangerous place on earth the percentage of people that get robbed can only go so high as to still allow most people to secure their posessions that allow them to live. Like people in a foreign country all use a wallet, so most of them aren't having it pickpocketed.
No the real reality is a rich looking western tourist looks like they are likely to be disoriented and confused and easily distracted enough to take their wallet which probably has a large amount of cash in it.
Hence you can reduce your chances of being robbed dramitically while travelling by simply knowing your destination, knowing your way around and maybe even knowing the language.

A more concerning example is the reality of haircuts, you should have a 'normal' haircut because the reality is that employers judge you by your haircut. This is true, I wouldn't contest it. But really? really?
really?
This is what reality has come to, that business naturally and efficiently is conducted by homogenised haircuts.
I admit, there is some truth to it, in sales for example clearly the first impression is going to be based on the image you present, the first image you need is confidence, the second is an absence of anything offensive like bad breath, body odor, tattoos of naked chicks, stupid haircuts.
It is true, but really, is it as simple as that. Imagine if you turned down Bill Gates as an employee at your IT firm because of his haircut. Imagine if you voted based on haircuts. Similarly I saw on a BBC documentary about the mind (a follow up to the series on the body) that people judge trustworthiness by simitry. People don't trust someone with a broken nose.
So if you have broken your nose and it is offline, you are fucked.
Which isn't fair at all, its just that getting here if you believe in evolution was just a slow painful process, and now we move pretty fast. So whereas say 10,000 years ago it may be that a broken nose and scars on the face indicated that this stranger got in a fuckload of fights, the same warning may not be as practical today.
But I have no idea where haircuts or anything else came from.
Hence I am skeptical now about reality.
It is enough to make one a buddhist monk.
Infact I think what bums me out most is that every time my parents give me the 'reality is' speech it is usually about encouraging me to accept a bleak and boring lifestyle.
Hence, really? really? the reality is if you own a home you are more secure? when just about every superannuation fund is about to collapse due to overinvestment in bricks and mortar? the reality is that cars are convenient and you need them to get around? just as I read articles that Melbournes shitty metro train system is just about at capacity due to a 33% rise in patronage. And here in melbourne I can be annoyed by the shitty dorky fixed gear trend. the reality is that employers decide on image? this right when I am embarking on my journey to not become an employee, but an employer. Precicely because I can't fucking see the sense in being concerned about this shit.

I first came across this sentiment of mine in about year 9 or 10. It was observing the school captain elections. I noticed that people didn't vote for who they wanted to be school captain. (because this inevitably would probably be someone cool, down to earth who had their shit together) Overwhelmingly when discussing the upcoming votes it was about who would win. And students discussed the 'known' criteria. example school captain was usually in the bording house, usually a rower, helped if they were a cricketer and had parents on the PTA board.
Now one is kidding oneself if one doesn't think that when the principle sees the votes doesn't immeadiately pick a kid of the PTA board member anyway, what amazed me though was that people actually complied to this reality thing.
Testing reality was deemed by most people not even necessary.

See going out against reality is potentially depressing, but I take inspiration from those who without any particular genius or talent, simply went to the minimal effort, tested it out and won.
Take any board meeting in the world of a fortune 500 company and just pause things, isolate the participants and say 'look, do you really care what you wear to this meeting? really?' I would virtually gauruntee the answer would be no.
Because the most common trait of people who put stock in how people dress is idiocy, or deluded fantasy.
Like having a formal 21st party, where everyone has to put on suits and ties and it is considered bad form to wear jeans. This is to foster the illusion that the person who's birthday it is is important and respected. When in reality they are no more important than anyone else at the party. They are important on this occasion, but fuck it doesn't really justify them being able to dictate what is good enough for them.
As in if you are inviting someone to your party that you really valu as a friend, are you really telling me you will be pissed off that they wear jeans?

Just like if you have a mind blowing resume and secure an interview immediately with a company, do you get rejected based on the fact that your face is ugly? well yes, but if that was what determined success in business money would grow on trees.

Let me put it this way, would I be justified as an employer in expecting my recruiters to dig really deep in all their interviews to find out whether a person had the goods or not?
Would the Chicago bulls have been justified in rejecting Dennis Rodman as a power forward based on his appearance and offcourt conduct and thus possibly forfeited not only the greatest season ever but 3 more championships?

Are you sitting at your office amongst a pack of douchebags who got their image right but otherwise cant really do their jobs? I thought so.