Factory building, big enough for 10 football pitches, welding, shot-blasting, welding, spray painting, ultra-wide loads that result in road closures whilst the leave via the roundabout outside the building... not so young pimply faced adult works in an IT department at the end of a long building, shirt but no tie, normal contacts are CAD engineers busy breaking their 386 workstations or the office Token ring. Life is good even if it meant wearing a pair of suit trousers and a white shirt without the tie.
Office consolidation within the same building now requires said adult (he feels older by the day) to keep up appearances but there’s a twist. He must now wear a tie! What caused such friction in the life of an jaded IT expert? Why the office opening ceremony! Lots of polishing, cleaning, dusting, removal of unsightly desk clutter, Big wigs from Sweden and Switzerland appear, lots of noises and clapping, life settles down.
There’s an email though, company wide. A congratulations on an excellent effort? No. A dressing down (figuratively) to the CAD engineers some of whom turned up in their normal smart work attire and didn’t care enough to wear a tie! Now all men, including the lonely IT support bod, must wear a long sleeved shirt and tie to work every day. Women should be smartly dressed, but to be honest the male dress sense was always the problem.
Now he works from home. Posh Jeep or CAT wooden socks, faded Levi 501 red label jeans, and any old tatty t-shirt is is then. He’s the only one brave enough to turn on his camera during WebEx sessions. He never fishes for complements on his dress sense as he knows the responses will not be favourable. His skills are what they need, not his street fashion credentials. He’ll be this way until he retires. Only 6720 dress down days to go!
Imagine this:
Factory building, big enough for 10 football pitches, welding, shot-blasting, welding, spray painting, ultra-wide loads that result in road closures whilst the leave via the roundabout outside the building... not so young pimply faced adult works in an IT department at the end of a long building, shirt but no tie, normal contacts are CAD engineers busy breaking their 386 workstations or the office Token ring. Life is good even if it meant wearing a pair of suit trousers and a white shirt without the tie.
Office consolidation within the same building now requires said adult (he feels older by the day) to keep up appearances but there’s a twist. He must now wear a tie! What caused such friction in the life of an jaded IT expert? Why the office opening ceremony! Lots of polishing, cleaning, dusting, removal of unsightly desk clutter, Big wigs from Sweden and Switzerland appear, lots of noises and clapping, life settles down.
There’s an email though, company wide. A congratulations on an excellent effort? No. A dressing down (figuratively) to the CAD engineers some of whom turned up in their normal smart work attire and didn’t care enough to wear a tie! Now all men, including the lonely IT support bod, must wear a long sleeved shirt and tie to work every day. Women should be smartly dressed, but to be honest the male dress sense was always the problem.
Now he works from home. Posh Jeep or CAT wooden socks, faded Levi 501 red label jeans, and any old tatty t-shirt is is then. He’s the only one brave enough to turn on his camera during WebEx sessions. He never fishes for complements on his dress sense as he knows the responses will not be favourable. His skills are what they need, not his street fashion credentials. He’ll be this way until he retires. Only 6720 dress down days to go!
Was it Guy Kewney? Oh, you didn't mention the braces, so probably not.