coz' every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man....
About a week ago, a new guy started work in my office. He's one of the many support guys who have been flown over from Bangalore, but it isn't his nationality that marks him out..... oh no. What marks this guy out from the crowd is his insistence on wearing a natty camouflage baseball cap at all times.
Yes, indoors too.
For some strange reason, this really niggled with me. Who the hell was this guy? Why the hell did he think it was okay to wear this hat? I would go into work every day and see this poor chap sat a few rows in front of me wearing this damn hat, and all I could think about was to wonder what on earth he was thinking.
...... and then today I found out that the Director of IT had also been making enquiries about the man in the hat. According to Claire (the girl with the all over tan), the big cheese had asked her to find out who managed this guy and to suggest that he stop wearing this hat in the office. Over the course of the afternoon, Claire made a few enquiries and by the end of the day, the hat was gone.
Reasonable enough, you might be thinking.
No.
No. No. No.
The thing is that the company I work at does not have a formal dress code. About 5 or 6 years ago, the "business dress" policy was revoked in favour of a "smart casual" dress code. Apart from sending shares in GAP rising, the net result of this was that people stopped wearing suits and ties, and started to wear chinos and open collared shirts.
This policy has not been formally revoked... and yet gradually people have started to wear ties again. What's happened? The management has "let it be known" that they want people to be smarter. They have "let it be known", but they haven't made a formal announcement.
The Director of IT has "let it be known" that he doesn't want this man wearing his baseball cap in the office, and the baseball cap has gone.
I think this is bollocks. If you want people to wear suits and ties in the office, then have the damn courage to make an announcement saying so. Don't carry out some sort of peer pressure campaign to make people conform. Don't pretend that people have a choice about what to wear when they don't have a choice.
I miss that baseball cap already.
---
Shuffleathon update
[stupid big table moved]
Do let me know if you have sent / received your CD... and if you have received your CD, review please !
Yes, indoors too.
For some strange reason, this really niggled with me. Who the hell was this guy? Why the hell did he think it was okay to wear this hat? I would go into work every day and see this poor chap sat a few rows in front of me wearing this damn hat, and all I could think about was to wonder what on earth he was thinking.
...... and then today I found out that the Director of IT had also been making enquiries about the man in the hat. According to Claire (the girl with the all over tan), the big cheese had asked her to find out who managed this guy and to suggest that he stop wearing this hat in the office. Over the course of the afternoon, Claire made a few enquiries and by the end of the day, the hat was gone.
Reasonable enough, you might be thinking.
No.
No. No. No.
The thing is that the company I work at does not have a formal dress code. About 5 or 6 years ago, the "business dress" policy was revoked in favour of a "smart casual" dress code. Apart from sending shares in GAP rising, the net result of this was that people stopped wearing suits and ties, and started to wear chinos and open collared shirts.
This policy has not been formally revoked... and yet gradually people have started to wear ties again. What's happened? The management has "let it be known" that they want people to be smarter. They have "let it be known", but they haven't made a formal announcement.
The Director of IT has "let it be known" that he doesn't want this man wearing his baseball cap in the office, and the baseball cap has gone.
I think this is bollocks. If you want people to wear suits and ties in the office, then have the damn courage to make an announcement saying so. Don't carry out some sort of peer pressure campaign to make people conform. Don't pretend that people have a choice about what to wear when they don't have a choice.
I miss that baseball cap already.
---
Shuffleathon update
[stupid big table moved]
Do let me know if you have sent / received your CD... and if you have received your CD, review please !
posted by swisslet @ 23:28
9 Comments:
At 12:27 am,
Stef said…
If companies are to have acceptable standards, be that in terms of dress or internet usage or whatever, they need to be explicit and written down.
The office I'm in now isn't too formal but I wear suit and a decent open necked shirt, I'm never under dressed and never ridiculously over-dressed. Nice and easy, just the way I like it.
Besides chinos and shirts a la Gap are so naff, I think I'd rather wear a suit.
On the subject of stupid work rules, Casual Fridays get on my tits. Either it's OK to wear jeans at work or it's not. Make a decision and stick to it.
Harumpf!
At 1:05 am,
Del said…
Got my CD, sent my CD! Woo! Review imminent, honest!
And yes, agreed. Black or white, not several shades of indistinguishable grey. Go in tomorrow wearing huge baggy trousers and squeeky clown shoes. And a wig. And then take them to an industrial tribunal.
At 12:27 pm,
adem said…
It starts off with being asked to remove a baseball cap, and before you know it we're back in Nazi germany!
At 3:17 pm,
Me said…
When I worked in an office, we had a dress code that no one was told about. I discovered, after about a year, that I didn't have to wear a shirt and tie. I started wearing t-shirts immediately, but was told this would probably affect my chances of promotion.
Livid, I was.
At 8:45 pm,
bytheseashore said…
The day I wear a pair of chinos in the office on a Friday is the day they pull them onto my cold, dead legs. Or something. I'm tempted to hire an officially-sanctioned blazer for the day but it'd be too obvious that I was taking the piss.
CD sent BTW, and received on a non-footie night which is a bonus.
At 10:13 pm,
HistoryGeek said…
I'm so proud of myself, I got my CD sent off today. That's a damned good turn around time for me!
At 10:29 pm,
Pynchon said…
We have an informal dress code, but I still wear trousers and a shirt, no tie though. I kind of like my work uniform.
At 7:32 am,
Stef said…
Having a 'uniform' for work is good, it saves you from having to put too much thought in when getting ready.
At 8:41 pm,
monogodo said…
Our dress code is company-issued polo shirt (tucked in) and khakis or other nice trousers, jeans only on Friday.
I'm ok with it, as I don't have to think about what I'm going to wear to work.
The thing that bothers me is that our runner, who has contact with customers multiple times a day, has been wearing jeans every day for the last 3 or 4 months. Our manager even got him 5 new shirts, and the last two days he's worn non-company-issued shirts. And they're always untucked. Bastard.
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