Whatever suits yer fancy...
And whomever fancies yer suit...
I was just thinking this morning, as I ran through the Java House is search of Tamar (because we had to dash to meet with the Director of Cultural Diversity about Tamar's phenomenal program idea, Did You Hear the One about the BIGOT)...
I was just thinking about suits, and the men that wear them.
Most places, suits indicate that you are a fancy-pants. Most places, suits show you to be a professional, a man of means, a stock-holder or something.
White collar.
But in Iowa City, and (I'd imagine) in other academic communities, a suit DOES NOT indicate wealth or prestige. In Iowa City, the faculty-members mostly wear sweater-vests or Oxford shirts and jeans or cords. And the doctors wear white coats. If there are lawyers, I've never seen them.
So in Iowa City, if you are wearing a suit, you are a SALESMAN.
Dingy collar-- probably connected to a short-sleeve dress shirt beneath your awful "professional" attire.
I know this because I've worked in diners and cafe's here, and so I know the guys who sell ad space, pork chops, aprons, cell phones, etc. etc. etc. Those are the suit-wearers in Iowa City.
And I have nothing (officially) against sales reps... but I came to hate them when I was a diner waitress. They'd come in with their briefcases from TARGET and their short-sleeved-powder-blue dress-shirts and their cheap black suits, with their gell-y hair.
And they'd call me "girl" and ask me for coffee... as though their professional status as a cell-phone-seller put them miles above me, the lowly waitress. And of course they'd take up a table, but not ever tip. I hated them
Not all of them of course. Nick who sold T-shirts was great... but HE didn't wear a suit.
Y'see, these guys didn't need to wear suits. In a town where nobody wears suits, no business owner is really going to care if the rep from their paper-napkin distributor is wearing a suit.
These guys wore suits to make them feel good, and fancy, and "professional."
And I wanted to take my Masters degree and a plate a mashed with gravy... and throw everything at the suits.
I was just thinking this morning, as I ran through the Java House is search of Tamar (because we had to dash to meet with the Director of Cultural Diversity about Tamar's phenomenal program idea, Did You Hear the One about the BIGOT)...
I was just thinking about suits, and the men that wear them.
Most places, suits indicate that you are a fancy-pants. Most places, suits show you to be a professional, a man of means, a stock-holder or something.
White collar.
But in Iowa City, and (I'd imagine) in other academic communities, a suit DOES NOT indicate wealth or prestige. In Iowa City, the faculty-members mostly wear sweater-vests or Oxford shirts and jeans or cords. And the doctors wear white coats. If there are lawyers, I've never seen them.
So in Iowa City, if you are wearing a suit, you are a SALESMAN.
Dingy collar-- probably connected to a short-sleeve dress shirt beneath your awful "professional" attire.
I know this because I've worked in diners and cafe's here, and so I know the guys who sell ad space, pork chops, aprons, cell phones, etc. etc. etc. Those are the suit-wearers in Iowa City.
And I have nothing (officially) against sales reps... but I came to hate them when I was a diner waitress. They'd come in with their briefcases from TARGET and their short-sleeved-powder-blue dress-shirts and their cheap black suits, with their gell-y hair.
And they'd call me "girl" and ask me for coffee... as though their professional status as a cell-phone-seller put them miles above me, the lowly waitress. And of course they'd take up a table, but not ever tip. I hated them
Not all of them of course. Nick who sold T-shirts was great... but HE didn't wear a suit.
Y'see, these guys didn't need to wear suits. In a town where nobody wears suits, no business owner is really going to care if the rep from their paper-napkin distributor is wearing a suit.
These guys wore suits to make them feel good, and fancy, and "professional."
And I wanted to take my Masters degree and a plate a mashed with gravy... and throw everything at the suits.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home