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The Philosophy of Preparation (and Barney Stinson)
It’s not about comfort, it’s about looking good all the time. — Barney Stinson
In how i met your mother, season 4 episode 17, The Front Porch, the gang holds a pajama party to wake up early and watch Robin’s morning show, we discover Barney not only wears suits everywhere in public, but also wears a set of suitjamas to bed.
His reasoning for the classy bed wear is simple and very Barney. If in the middle of the night there’s a knock on his door, and opens it to find from two beautiful women in bikinis asking him to use his shower after spilling baby oil on each other, he needs to look his best (cue wink from Neil Patrick Harris to the camera).
The situation Barney presents is of course absurd, but the idea itself illustrates a powerful point.
If I look around my apartment right now, there are dishes piled around the sink with the dishwasher empty, the coffee table is covered in books of various sizes and topics, random sheets of paper float around scribbled with ideas about Stoicism and Star Wars. Frankly, if two beautiful women knocked on my door, how I’m dressed would be the least of my concerns.
The situation Barney presents is quite clearly fantasy, but substitute the specifics and isn’t it the same fantasy…
