Clothes can make the situation
I found myself feeling contented and lucky the other day being able to attire myself for work without much regard beyond comfort on a chill, rainy day. I reflected on how much of a bother it has been in the past when I had to conform to uniform guidelines. Granted, there were some very good reasons for the staff to abide by a certain appearance. On the other hand, you'd also get stuck having to show up in clothes that were ill-suited for the current weather quite often as well.
No such problem here. And I was feeling pretty damned smug about that until reality reasserted itself and I recalled that my choices of dress are not entirely free of constraint. I work with the public. Sure, I can show up to work in extremely casual clothes if I so chose. However, not many people are going to want to buy products to get naked and friendly with if I look like I just crawled out of the residue of a keg party.
Oh wow. How insightful. Who would have thought that hygiene would serve any purpose besides allowing the fascist state to keep the common man down. Put down the raised fists there, skippy. Savor the sarcasm a little.
Fortunately, everyone here on the payroll side has enough mental kindling and/or pride to know better than to show up looking like utter shit. Ninety-nine percent of the time, that's where the examination ends.
There's another caveat that MUST be taken into account here though. Call it an unspoken current of self awareness if you will. Various articles may have connotations. For example, a female clerk showed up here once with her hair in pigtails, in a white blouse, pleated plaid skirt, knee-high stockings, and mary jane type shoes. Despite how cute and fun her ensemble was for her outside the walls of the building, there are going to be very predictable results for an appearance that's a flat-out popular fetish. Although her shift passed without incident, she did spend as much of it as she could outside of customer sight. She told me later that it never entered her mind it could have been a problem.
There are a few perils lurking in my gender's direction too. Care must be exercised with the use of bandanas or any other small quantity of fabric. A hastily pocketed rag can lead to a shockingly specific offer by a customer on the floor. Motorcycle leathers could also spark some crossed signals.
If nothing else it can lead to some great stories around the water cooler.
No such problem here. And I was feeling pretty damned smug about that until reality reasserted itself and I recalled that my choices of dress are not entirely free of constraint. I work with the public. Sure, I can show up to work in extremely casual clothes if I so chose. However, not many people are going to want to buy products to get naked and friendly with if I look like I just crawled out of the residue of a keg party.
Oh wow. How insightful. Who would have thought that hygiene would serve any purpose besides allowing the fascist state to keep the common man down. Put down the raised fists there, skippy. Savor the sarcasm a little.
Fortunately, everyone here on the payroll side has enough mental kindling and/or pride to know better than to show up looking like utter shit. Ninety-nine percent of the time, that's where the examination ends.
There's another caveat that MUST be taken into account here though. Call it an unspoken current of self awareness if you will. Various articles may have connotations. For example, a female clerk showed up here once with her hair in pigtails, in a white blouse, pleated plaid skirt, knee-high stockings, and mary jane type shoes. Despite how cute and fun her ensemble was for her outside the walls of the building, there are going to be very predictable results for an appearance that's a flat-out popular fetish. Although her shift passed without incident, she did spend as much of it as she could outside of customer sight. She told me later that it never entered her mind it could have been a problem.
There are a few perils lurking in my gender's direction too. Care must be exercised with the use of bandanas or any other small quantity of fabric. A hastily pocketed rag can lead to a shockingly specific offer by a customer on the floor. Motorcycle leathers could also spark some crossed signals.
If nothing else it can lead to some great stories around the water cooler.
posted by Lanius at 6:16 PM
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