Even before the pandemic, there was one strict rule in our
house. On Sunday, no one could complain about your clothing choices. We called
it our Sunday Rules.
We’re conservative people, so don’t imagine anything too far
out or risqué. For the most part it meant wearing old clothes with holes in
them or ancient dog-eaten slippers. The usual matching conventions of colors
and textures were thrown out the window, so purples, browns and greens might be
thrown together in a deranged rainbow. On rare occasions, a pair of pajamas
could stay on until after lunch. In general, the policy was Be Decent but Be
Comfortable.
Now, when everyday has the feel of a Sunday, the world has
settled into its global Sunday Rules. My very first Zoom meeting, I asked the
participants for a show of hands as to who was wearing shoes. No hands were
raised, although a slightly higher number were in socks, it being early Spring.
I didn’t dare ask about pants.
It is not just locally. A judge in Missouri went viral with
his complaints that attorneys were appearing in remote legal proceedings
wearing inappropriate clothing – tee shirts or sweats while presenting their
petitions. One attorney, he claimed, was even still in bed during the
conference.
This may be a quiet revolution. Just as teleconferencing has
become a reality that is not likely to disappear, the social norms of dress and
presentation may be battered. Productivity is not down among those who are
working. The meetings are still getting done and decisions being made. One
successful meeting occurred despite the CEO inadvertently projecting herself as
a talking potato for the whole thing (I would have made all the officers choose
an avatar both to avoid my embarrassment and to gain an interesting peek into
their psyches). Maybe the world really can be run on a more casual basis.
I hope not. The way the competitive world works, people will
be trying to outdo themselves in how grungy they can look. Plague beards are
fun during pandemics and playoffs, but we don’t need everyone to look like they
were shipmates of Robinson Crusoe. Also, think about the stress on dress-down
Fridays or Ugly Sweater Contests. All the comfort would be wrung from the
casual.
I would like to think that, when the normal world comes
back, Sunday Rules will return to being a place of refuge (and idleness) and
not become some sort of faddish expectation.
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