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Life at The Window

Are you ready for this? Another one of my random thoughts? And I swear this is just a coincidence that this random thought also happens to be because of the window.

I happened to have this dream the other night. We were passing this road, this rather shopping lane. It was sort of like Durbarmarg, but more flourished. It was wide with tall buildings on either side that had these huge windows for brands and shops. And almost all these places had mannequins. Mannequins were placed on stairs; mannequins dressed extravagantly. Only, I realized a while later, that these were not mannequins at all. These were actual people that were paid to dress up and stand by the windows all day. I was astounded, even in the dream. These real-life mannequins were doing random things at different shops. Some of them were just talking with one another; some had a routine and danced to grab attention.

I can clearly see that image in my head, even now, hours after I’ve woken up. This was one of the dreams I can remember. I was curious. Is there really a job as such? Are there live mannequins? I grabbed my laptop and typed in. Sure, there are people made to dress up as mannequins to play a prank on someone, but what about a job as a live mannequin? Turns out there really is such a thing, maybe not in the same way but there are live mannequin jobs in different industries. Interesting? I knowww.

The search also showed me something else. This was not what I had been intending to search, of course, but a close representation of the place in my dream. Prostitution in the Netherlands also displays the same kind of concept. And heading back to my random thoughts: it made me think. No, not about the prostitution of course, but the window. In this modern world, especially for the youth, it has become very crucial to stand out and sell yourself; sell your ideas, your skills, your accomplishments. The question always is what else do you have to offer or what can you offer differently? What do you have that they are looking for? What makes you different than the thousands of others that hold the same educational degree as you? What will they find when they come in to have a look? The competition is getting tougher, and the water is getting deeper. The new generation has it even tougher to sell themselves, to prove themselves. People are starting to work at a young age, balancing studies and work as they struggle to create a profile, all so they have many things to display at their life store. Intentionally or intentionally, we are all selling our work, our skills, our services as live mannequins in the rat race of life. Maybe, in a way, we are all live mannequins in the window of life trying to grab the attention of interested ones to show them what we have to offer. Be it from the employee perspective or the employer perspective, the live mannequin concept is perhaps some hypothetical concept that everyone is going through.

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