The Dress Code I've blogged here before about the hang ups my company has with dress codes. Mind you, I don't resist dress codes at all. I think they're a good idea and can really inspire a professionalism in people. I'm for them, you could say.

But lately my company has been really slacking on enforcing this code. For the last few months one of the other managers in my office has been rocking into work any day of the week wearing sweat pants and white tennis shoes. I would otherwise consider this acceptable on a Casual Friday sort of basis, but this guy will do it any day he seems to want to. Of course, people see him doing it and they follow suit (no pun intended). So what happened? People wear jeans to work now. Is it such a big deal? I don't think so, since a great majority of our work is "back office" type stuff. Meaning, there is very little contact with clients directly unless you're in Sales and you have them come down to our home office. Most of the contact is email and phone based, so they don't see us very often.

Well, considering this I've to date still been pretty strict on myself with the dress code. Shirt and tie with dress shoes and slacks every day but Friday. On Fridays I would wear the same outfit sans tie, but I eventually dropped the slacks for jeans. The past two days, however, I have ridden my new bike to work. I wear my jeans and yesterday I packed my slacks, dress shoes and tie in a backpack and changed when I got to work. No big deal. Today I did the same thing but when I got to work I saw that this other manager was wearing a flannel shirt with white tennis shoes and I decided to skip the whole changing thing. If he can flaunt the rules and not be called on it, then I'm gonna be comfortable.

I'm still wearing a button down shirt but I've got jeans and sneakers on. I never see clients and I'm not in Sales, I don't see what the big deal is. Our COO popped her head into my office this afternoon and asked me if my head was cold. I realized I was wearing my flat cap and took it off sheepishly. She then said something to the effect of "we have to try and retain a little professional look around here." To which I had to shoot back "yeah, especially when people are allowed to wear white sneakers and sweats to the office."

That old bag. I can't believe her. She won't push down the other manager because he kisses her wrinkled old butt and I'm gonna call her on it. If she tries to enforce anything on me that isn't consistent across the board I'll throw discrimination in her face so fast it'll make her hip shatter. Seriously, I know she has a lot of experience in whatever capacity but she's got a thing or two to learn yet. Or maybe she learned it and forgot it, I don't know. But either way she's not gonna get over on me just because I'm a nice guy. They don't pay me enough here to sacrifice for my own sense of professionalism and being nice.
  ¶ 2:33 PM