I think we all agree that you don't need to be spit shined to fly an airplane safely. But I imagine the point was what public perception is different. People will equate a neat fella with being a good pilot and one that forgot his left shoe as being a bad one. It may be the other way around. Just play the game. Look sharp and stay out of trouble. I insider myself a pilot and not a driver, just as my doctor friend considers himself a surgeon and not a butcher. Nothing wrong with being either. Just not the same.