The appearance of someone who knows about taxes

Last month I was approached by a barista at our local coffee shop, asking if I could help her with her taxes. She claimed that I “looked like” a person who’d know, given I’m always on my laptop here. It was a funny encounter, but it did highlight for me the extent to which outward appearances still dictate so much about how we’re perceived. A lanky gentleman with pale complexion, collared shirt, Hololive plush hanging off his bag, and black-rimmed glasses using a laptop certainly looks the part of a stereotypical person who’d know about taxes. Turns out I only knew enough to be dangerous, but I also fit the stereotype of an IT worker. This was a benign encounter, but it’s not the lived experience of most people. Here are but three examples I’ve raised here before: My sister worked at a certain fruit company for several years, but people on Twitter back in the day claimed she must have known how to answer interview questions based on the fact “her brother” helped her. Even though Clara…

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