I now see you as the Chevy Santa talking to the guy looking to buy a truck over the holidays…
All the “normal” people I work with turned out to be pretty weird once I got to know them. I feel like I’ve never worked with people I’d call normal, and I’ve worked for 4 years in an office in a hospital in an affluent suburb. Even my perfect-looking human barbie boss swears like a dock worker, worries that other department managers don’t like her and has naughty teenage kids.
I like talking to people and finding out what they’re into and I can chat shoes with the girls, recipes with the grandmas and video games with the guys. Wait, maybe I’m normal! How horrifying.
Sometimes I do fit in. Sometimes I don’t.
Well, the experiment continues but today was pretty great. I wore jeans and sneakers with my lucky sweater, no one cared. I did something with my hair that I normally don’t, but that I like better, no one cared. When our resident office complainer asked me if I had a few minutes to chat I…said no, and she…went away. That was a big wow for me.
Then around mid-day I went into my boss’ office and said hey boss, you know that really difficult task that I complain about sometimes? I don’t want to do it anymore. To her credit she fully engaged in the conversation and in the end said ok, you still have to do it, but I’ll take the parts of it that really bother you. So, score 
I think a big part of this issue for me is that I’ve spent my whole life doing what I was supposed to do, being a good soldier and following orders. The result is that I don’t really know what my bottom line is, the answer to how far will she bend has always been how far is required? Probably the reason I feel like I don’t fit in is that I’m not actually being myself.
It sounds like I’m not alone, a lot of people feel like they don’t fit in, so maybe it’s not really valuable or worthwhile to try. It’s certainly no longer interesting to me, and that feels pretty good.
Sounds like a philosophical question. If you apply the right rules for monitoring your own behavior, you won’t ever have to take a cue from anyone ever again. You could do everything with lots of courage then. But how do you know what those rules are, or even how to find out?
Well it sounds like you are in a low-consequence corner of your workplace. You aren’t going to start a war if you do the wrong things experimenting with the rules. Maybe you need to get fired and move, make your own map.
Gotta car?
ps I don’t like to see pointy shoes.
Well, don’t get too carried away. People still want you to shower and brush your teeth and stuff. 
Yes, an ugly car! I love the idea of making my own map.
That’s ridiculous. You have me all wrong.
I would never wear a white shirt like that.
Oooh, this is a fun thread. Can I join in?
You see, I don’t fit it either - not in a terribly obvious way, but I’m not at all like my friends when it comes to fashion sensibility - I have none. I wear jeans and a t-shirt as often as possible, and dressing up or dressing “sophisticated” feels unnatural to me. It takes me 15 minutes to get ready in the morning. I part my hair in the middle and always have, and probably always will. In fact I don’t really know how to do any fun things with my hair at all, I just put it in a ponytail. When I have to go to a nice function, I’ll blow-dry it before I put it in a ponytail. I don’t really spend much time on my appearance because I don’t really know what to do with myself, and I’d rather spend my time doing other things. Although some people may be offended by that, that doesn’t really provide enough motivation for me to change anything, since I’M perfectly comfortable the way I am.
It can be a little stressful when I’m going to a fancy event and I’m supposed to look nice. Since I don’t practice with these things, and since I don’t have many good fancy outfits that I like, I feel like I look quite jumbly and un-put-together. Every great once in awhile I’ll feel like I’ve pulled it off, but it usually requires someone else doing my hair or makeup.
I’m 30 years old and a year ago I decided to go back to school for a 2nd degree. MAN things have changed since I was here last. All the girls look the same. Everyone is trying to impress everyone else, while trying to make it look like they’re not. I realize as I walk around campus that I don’t really need to worry about anything at all - most of the people who see me are probably so busy worrying about how they are being perceived that they don’t even notice me or anyone else. And if they do notice, and they think I look dumpy or frumpy, that doesn’t really bother me either - because I’m glad I don’t look like them!
moejoe, I like your experiment. It’s fun and inspiring. Keep it up! It sounds like you’re having a grand time! 