"I couldn't tell the difference."

Soon after beginning teaching kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary, the principal agreed to milk a cow in front of the school for some reason. My son, a high school student at the time, was somehow involved in bringing the cow to our school. That night at home he commented, on how the teachers looked and said, "Mom, I couldn't tell which ones were janitors and which ones were teachers." I was surprised for two reasons. First, I didn't realize a teenager, especially a boy, would notice what grown-ups looked like. Secondly, I am not a "fashion-plate" myself so I didn't think he came by it genetically. Nevertheless, I decided to always look like a teacher.
Later I was enrolling in some graduate classes at Idaho State University. I attended after my regular job at BYUI. I only had a short time before the administration offices closed and had to pay my tuition before the deadline. I became frustrated when no one seemed to want to help me. Finally, I walked into an office full of people who were ignoring me and said, "I'm trying to give this Unversity a lot of money. Can somebody help me? Everyone in the office were suddenly anxious to help. I don't think I would have gotten the same response or been as believable if I had been dressed like the janitor.

WHAT I LEARNED: Appearances matter.