Does this mean I am getting old?

I have always tried to present an understated but professional appearance even when working on the floor of the data center. I try to coordinate, my sneakers are clean, I always wear earrings. The last few months I have been working in downtown DC. This should have been easy. Everyone in the client site is VERY stylish, most are European but it is a very cosmopolitan group.

Now the problem. I walk about 3/4 mile from hotel to metro and then three blocks from metro to the office-carrying my laptop,100 lb power pack, and stuff in my stylish leather over should bag. Woe to me if I throw in a water bottle! My shoulder is killing me. I have brought my pull along but that is less than wonderful on the sidewalks and escalators and I still have to carry it on and down the aisles of the plane. And it does not hook onto my luggage. Hey folks I am not feeling the sympathy. So I broke down and bought an unstylish laptop bag that is light, hooks onto the handle of my luggage and I can hook my hard hat on with a bungee cord. I always said when I abandoned fashionable I would soon lapse into sensible shoes and cut my hair to a practical length!

Today the guy who took my car - who knows me by now - says wow I like a girl with a hard hat. And the TSA agent tells me I am the envy of all the little girls. Who knew. Women check out the handbag, look to see if the briefcase is leather and a tote. Men they are all about the hard hat.