27 March 2004
Wandering Minds Want to Know
The Toronto Transit Comission is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Canada’s first subway. I saw this image on one of their posters on my way home from work yesterday:
What struck me was that all the men are dressed alike: fedoras, ties and trenchcoats. The picture was taken March 30, 1954—a Tuesday—so I can only presume they’re dressed for work. You don’t see that kind of business dresscode anymore. There seem to be many more jobs where “business casual” or less is the norm. Thankfully mine is one of them.
So I thought, “Would I have dressed like that if I was living in the 50s?” I wouldn’t have had a choice, right? Then it occurred to me that my job wouldn’t have existed in 1954. While there might have been computers, there certainly weren’t websites or software as we know it. Perhaps I would have stuck with mechanical engineering, which is what I went to school for in the first place. Or perhaps I would have found something completely different.
It raises an interesting question though: what would you be doing for a living if your job didn’t exist?