When I went to Orlando after law school, I was 24 years old. One of the things that I was reminded of repeatedly, and in particular by Cleat, was that I looked very young. Cleat even went so far as to note this in my written performance review. In my face-to-face review with the 2 most senior partners in the firm, they even discussed with me that I looked young! John Lowndes, the firm's founding father, expressed good-naturedly that my youthful appearance would obviously take care of itself over time.While in Orlando (I left there in early 1996 after having aged to 26), I had 2 things happen outside of work that supported the apparent consensus in my law firm about my appearance. First, my aunt and uncle came to visit me with their 2 sons, who were probably about 10 and 8 at that time. I went with them to Disney World and they wanted to go to this all-you-can eat dessert buffet. At the restaurant, my uncle, my 2 cousins and I all opted for the buffet, but my aunt declined and (sensibly) ordered one dessert.
When the waiter came back to write up the check, he muttered something that sounded like, "one adult and three kids for the dessert bar." We didn't know if we heard him correctly, but when the bill came back it was confirmed. He saw me as co-equal with my 10 and 8-year old cousins and charged me the kiddie menu price accordingly. We all laughed and I could not understand how anyone could be so oblivious to think that I was 12 or under. My poor aunt felt slighted that someone would think that she was old enough to have a child as big as me.
The second event happened one night when I was home in my apartment. I lived alone, and after work I had changed into a t-shirt and shorts. I was startled by a knock on the door, since I didn't really know anyone in Orlando. When I looked out the peephole I saw a kid standing there looking like he was selling something. I figured he had already heard me moving inside the apartment and I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t home, so I opened the door. I stood there ready to hear the pitch for whatever he was selling, thinking of a way to decline nicely. He took a look at me and opened with, "Hi. Is your mom and dad home?" Despite his incorrect grammar, I took the out. "No," I responded truthfully. He was understanding and left me to go back to my relaxing. Or maybe he thought it was almost my bedtime.
