“Fresh” Chapter 42

The Urban Dictionary for the word Fresh is:

Cool, or how someone carrys themselves; how well dressed and fashionable a person is.

For an old man he's really fly. I've never ever seen him not looking fresh!

So I have a few questions for you. If I sat in my house all day in my boxers drooling on myself, dirty and unkept would you blame me? Would anyone of you complain or talk trash about me or just say that it is fine he has ALS? What if I didn’t have ALS, would your opinion change?

For 21 years while serving in the Army I never had to worry about what I was wearing, I was told what to wear. However, I always wore a pressed and starched uniform , spit shinned boots and a tight haircut. My uniform was so starched it stood up on its own and sounded like you were walking on sticks. My boots were spit shinned every night for the next day. To this day I can still taste and smell the melted shoe polish. Laura didn’t have to burn candles, we just enjoyed the scents of the polish and hot ironed uniform in the air. For several years Laura cut my hair on Sundays so I was ready for the week. There is never a reason not to stay fresh.

Before I retired, while stationed in Korea I took advantage of my location and had tailored suits made. When I retired, I was ready for the corporate world. Would you believe only to start my new career as a military contractor and we wore Army uniforms, so I put my clothes back in the closet.

When the contract ended I found a new job as a government civilian.  I was teaching the Army’s Antiterrorism course and was on one of four teams who traveled around the world. The funny thing about most people who instruct in the Army, they all wear cargo pants and polo’s. It’s almost cult like. You get out of one uniform only to follow along with everyone else and get into your cargos and polo.

I never fell in line with that theory and since I already had new clothes from Korea I wore business casual. But even that felt wrong, the week our team was scheduled to teach in DC my friend Mark and I decided we would wear suits. That week we noticed a considerable positive difference from our students. So we decided to make it the standard, at our next location wearing suits were not worn much in the community but we noticed something happening. Not only were the students treating us differently so was the community. The hotel staff, the restaurant service was better as well as the bar service. It was proof enough for me that suits would become my new work and dinner standard.

A few years later, the reputation of me staying fresh preceded me when I arrived in Germany for my new job. We were picked up by our cargo, polo wearing sponsor who was going to be my partner in the office. On our drive from the airport he stated “I hear you like to wear suits to work, we don’t wear them here. So you don’t have to when you show up tomorrow “. I immediately thought this guy doesn’t know who he is talking to and the next day of course I showed up in my best suit. I don’t know if my office peers saw something different in how others were treating me or their wives asking them why they didn’t dress better but in a few months the cargos were gone.

I like to think dressing up for work in the right setting of course changes the standard and creates a positive environment. Think about it, when you dress up doesn’t make you feel better, more confident? It feels good when someone compliments your appearance, recognizes a fresh haircut or sees your positive attitude.

So now every day I get cleaned up, and put on my clothes, and once a month I get my hair cut and I feel good (say it in James Brown's voice).

So back to my original question, why would I sit around my house looking like shit? Doing so would not help my mental health and I would not be sitting here writing my blog every week. If you ever feel a bit down pick yourself up, take a shower, put on some nice clothes and treat yourself to something nice.

As for me, when you have the best barber in the DMV@viiliv and a wife who loves me enough to keep you in nice clothes even when you have ALS, you stay FRESH. #LIVINGMISSIONDUBOIS

Love and blessings