Me in a nutshell

Take a look at the photo above. I realized tonight, this picture perfectly encapsulates me as a person. 

This picture was taken in Riomaggiore, Italy, the last and smallest of the five fishing towns that make up the Cinque Terra, a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera.

Take a look at this picture, and tell me what one thing is not like the other?

Three adults dressed relatively nicely - dressed like adults - having dinner with one guy dressed to watch Season 1 of Mad Men on DVD.

Now, there are a lot of reasons that explain why I am wearing a t-shirt in this picture. 

Like:

• We had just hiked seven hours from one end of Cinque Terra to the other.
• Our hotel was like a 1,000 foot climb above the town, and we'd have to walk up a steep hill to get back at the end of the night.
• Because we were packing for a week-long trip, we tried to pack as lightly as we could, which meant I didn't bring much "nice" clothing.
• I did have a polo shirt, but I wanted that to be clean(ish) for our anniversary dinner in Paris.
• Because I sweat at the drop of a hat, I worried that I'd sweat through the polo on the way home from dinner.
• Since it was late, and we were physically exhausted from hiking, I assumed everyone would be in their most comfortable clothes.
• It's cool at night in this part of Italy, and my most comfortable shirt is my long-sleeved Hawks tee-shirt. Perfect.

All of the above is true. But it's not why this picture so perfectly encapsulates me (though it does factor in). 

The first time I noticed that everyone else was dressed well and I looked like a total choad was when I posted our pictures to Facebook. I never once thought about it at the time. Instead I saw the picture and was like, jeez, who is this asshole?

Look at the picture again. Look at the smile on my face - it is the smile of a man who is completely unaware that people might think he looks funny. I might as well have a mullet. 

It never occurred to me to wear anything different. I was blissfully unaware.

And that's me in a nutshell, as I think my family and friends will attest at times. I am quite blissfully unaware.