Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Style and Respect - a rebuttal

One of the regrettable things about writing, or beginning writing, is not making your point clear. There are times when I write a post two or three times and I'm not sure if it will convey my thoughts accurately. Since this is not a novel I won't be getting carried away with draft after draft to hone a post into a masterpiece. I'll make a few edits sure, but I'm either o.k. with it or I delete it. The last post was certainly one of the tougher ones. I wrote that last post and later I realized there might be some things left out or maybe I would not get my point nailed down but I really just wanted to say "I'm not fifteen anymore and I should not dress as though I am". After a few false starts I just went with it and I think it came out alright. With one possible exception. I seemed to have sparked something in TVI. TVI is my Dad's cousin and a regular reader and I have quite a bit of respect for him even if I don't know what TVI means or why he uses all capital letters when he types. (Just kidding, dude). TVI left a comment to the tune of him not being too concerned about what people think of the way he dresses. My reply was that I agreed, and that I too don't really care about what others think but dressing well is a sign of respect. He turned that into a nicely written post on his blog. I like what he had to say. Respect should be earned in most cases but there is a matter of context and I think that's where I went wrong. First, I failed to mention that my dressing better is for me. Not the folks around me. The point is not to look better than you, it's to look better than I did. I would hope that all the folks on People of Wal-Mart would chose to do the same but I can't spend my time worrying about them. I also have no intention of belittling anyone. Second, on the issue of respect there are appropriate things to wear to certain events. You don't wear a Metallica t-shirt and dirty jeans to Grandma's funeral. It's disrespectful to dear old Granny and the gravity of the event. I go to a lot of weddings. The bride and groom went to a lot of work to plan the day and make it special. They are wearing the best clothes they can afford for that day. Have a little respect for them, the Church, and the families and put on a tie. I don't expect you to respect me for wearing a tie. It's the other way around. That's about as close as I am going to get to ranting here folks because as I said, I am pushing the boundaries of  being hypocritical. I didn't want to have two blog posts about the way I dress. I just wanted to make a point about me growing up and attempting to act like an adult. I feel not wearing flip-flops to the White House is part of that. The next post is going to be about carrots. No controversy, just vegetables.

3 comments:

Surly said...

I pretty much new we were on the same page I just wasn't sure I made myself clear the first time. Thanks.

Grumpyunk said...

I'm still thinking your style should include- RabbitHelmets!

Yeah, I'm still stuck on it. Makes me laugh every time I think of our 2 boys, your little one and my 24 y/o, running around like a couple of chowderheads with the RabbitHelmets on. Really does make me LOL!

Surly said...

I actually set up the lights,and attempted to take a shot of the whole family wearing rabbit helmets but the boys balked. Tears led to screaming. I'll try again sometime. I haven't forgot.