VIP

What do you wear when your life is about to take a quick twist to better days? A Nordstrom suit of course, deep blue, with a white shirt underneath. Just so you don’t forget who you really are—bordering on anti-establishment and crunchy granola at heart—carry around a purse with silver skulls embedded on the skin.

So today you spent an oppressively warm summer day inside an even more oppressively hot convention center. The suit wasn’t a particularly good idea, but the event is one of the highlights of your month—you wanted to look good for today. More importantly, you wanted everyone to know that you belonged to that place. Nobody told you that you had to wear a badge stating your VIP status. You and the Development Director are receiving a $10,000 check for the non-profit.

Before any of that happened, there was a luncheon for you and the other grantees, honoring and celebrating your presence. Once you approached the buffet, you saw one of the people you worked with. You had a flashback of working weekends, all hours, at this same event center. You always wondered what it would be like to be the one getting up to get more food at the buffet, rather than the one refilling the food, and taking the dirty plates away. Now you know what it feels like, being the one who wears a suit, power shoes, and feeling like a VIP.