Do you remember the days when employees wore uniforms ? I don't mean at fast food places, we didn't have them yet, I mean at Gas stations, and delivery men, the milk man and the like. Often these uniforms included a bow tie and a hat. Yes, going to work was a formal affair in those days. It was observed as such, every day. Then came casual Friday. That is where it all began. The old adage, give them an inch and they'll take a mile has been borne out over the years. Nowadays employees are liable to be dressed in just about any fashion. Tee shirts and shorts with flip flops are everywhere. Grooming standards are no longer adhered to either. The employee dictates that stuff in todays world. There have been lawsuits about that ! Cries of discrimination have been heard. Not so back in the day and I can't help but feel we are worse off for it. I have said it before and will continue, what we need is a little more formality in life. Your life and your livelihood are not a vacation in paradise. Paradise awaits those that earn it. I think we should all try just a little bit harder.
Way back in 1975 a book was written regarding this very topic. Dress for success. The author detailed how the way one dresses effects their career. This is something we are all well aware of. Some remain defiant and say how it is wrong to judge people based on their clothing and grooming. Those same folks do it every day. They just live in denial. They are still doing social experiments with this and the results are the same. Yes, it exists and always will. In fact it was 1949 when the book Clothes make the Man was written. So I know people where aware of that at least that far back. My feeling is it has always been so.
Uniforms or more specifically, uniformity is an important part of society. When it comes to your occupation it is especially so. Consider the Military. Why uniforms and uniformity ? To create a cohesive unit is the answer. In order to do so we must first negate our individuality. And it is that, that causes the rub. We don't want to lose our individuality, not even for a moment, that's today. There was a time when a sense that you were part of something bigger than yourself, was important. No longer are we willing to do that without being hailed a hero. All professionals are hero's these days. They transcend the occupation. They are not a part of the organization, they are its' champions, it's heroes.
It is not so much the wearing of a uniform but the willingness of the person to join a group. You must be willing to surrender just a bit of your individuality to function effectively in society. That defines a society. Conformity and uniformity are the binding agents in a society. But in many cases it is those qualities that are being rejected. We admire those that are different. It is a catch 22 for sure. It is impossible to define a society on an individual basis. A society is not an individual but an aggregate. As Spock famously said, the needs of the many. We are shifting more towards the wants of the one. Take this newest ruling regarding the military. It is estimated that approx. .3 per cent of the population identify as transgender. Less than one per cent of the total U.S. population serve in the military. So just how many transgender people can there be in the military right now ? Yet we are changing the rules. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't, just pointing out a few facts. Each instance of this compliance with the needs of the individual creates a fracture in the whole. All those tiny cracks will lead to the eventual separation of the whole. They appear as small things, insignificant. Then they spread. And it all began with casual Friday ! Just sayin'
Way back in 1975 a book was written regarding this very topic. Dress for success. The author detailed how the way one dresses effects their career. This is something we are all well aware of. Some remain defiant and say how it is wrong to judge people based on their clothing and grooming. Those same folks do it every day. They just live in denial. They are still doing social experiments with this and the results are the same. Yes, it exists and always will. In fact it was 1949 when the book Clothes make the Man was written. So I know people where aware of that at least that far back. My feeling is it has always been so.
Uniforms or more specifically, uniformity is an important part of society. When it comes to your occupation it is especially so. Consider the Military. Why uniforms and uniformity ? To create a cohesive unit is the answer. In order to do so we must first negate our individuality. And it is that, that causes the rub. We don't want to lose our individuality, not even for a moment, that's today. There was a time when a sense that you were part of something bigger than yourself, was important. No longer are we willing to do that without being hailed a hero. All professionals are hero's these days. They transcend the occupation. They are not a part of the organization, they are its' champions, it's heroes.
It is not so much the wearing of a uniform but the willingness of the person to join a group. You must be willing to surrender just a bit of your individuality to function effectively in society. That defines a society. Conformity and uniformity are the binding agents in a society. But in many cases it is those qualities that are being rejected. We admire those that are different. It is a catch 22 for sure. It is impossible to define a society on an individual basis. A society is not an individual but an aggregate. As Spock famously said, the needs of the many. We are shifting more towards the wants of the one. Take this newest ruling regarding the military. It is estimated that approx. .3 per cent of the population identify as transgender. Less than one per cent of the total U.S. population serve in the military. So just how many transgender people can there be in the military right now ? Yet we are changing the rules. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't, just pointing out a few facts. Each instance of this compliance with the needs of the individual creates a fracture in the whole. All those tiny cracks will lead to the eventual separation of the whole. They appear as small things, insignificant. Then they spread. And it all began with casual Friday ! Just sayin'
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