Major Weather Weirdness
- Thread starter CZ93X62
- Start date
As always, I was lagging there, but I sure appreciated the post.
I will make this story short.
As a newb' at my first permanent duty station, I was required to give audience to the Battalion Command Sergeant Major, along with all the other newb's. This guy was built like a holstein bull, very tall, very muscular, bald head, no neck and mean to the bone. He gave a highly animated and charismatic speech about how we were to conduct ourselves beyond the bounds of our Infantry post. This speech included "consequences" of conducting ourselves improperly, which included another visit with him when he wasn't in such a good mood as that particular day, as well as what would happen to us "out there" and whether there'd be anything left of us for him to rip apart, eat raw and "excrete" later.
He started with ties, at which point I started sweating it because I wasn't putting no damned noose around my neck for nobody! I was wearing an unauthorized clip-on (for safety's sake) and here I was - busted, right out of the gate. He demonstrated why you DON'T wear a real tie off post by snatching up the nearest 120# newb' by the tie and shaking him - feet off the floor - before our very eyes as he made his point. He ordered us to go buy a clip-on at the PX before we wasted the rest of our paycheck on, well, you know, tatoos and booz. PHEW! I've always wondered what would have happened if he'd grabbed the new'b on his left (me) instead on the one on his right. He'd have gotten a handful of tie and no new'b.
He further demonstrated why you don't keep a shock of hair on your skull by dangling yet another unfortunate newb' by his hair (not me, again) and from that point forward, haircuts were the FIRST expenditure of each bi-monthly pay and everyone's real tie was part of a static display in their locker.
fiver
Well-Known Member
but,,but Dr. WHO, and his companions, wore their clothes all throughout time and never got questioned about it.
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
I never wore ties much, never liked them much, but when I started going overseas and working with
major scientific research institutions, and meeting with the top dogs, and staff and fairly often political
folks (the odd US ambassador or foreign equiv) it became necessary to wear a suit and tie. I am sure I could
have gotten away with it, but in my estimation, meeting new people and needing to be taken seriously
right off the bat, the suit and tie were necessary. After ten years of it, for 2-4 weeks pretty much every
day, about 2-3 times per year, I got pretty comfortable with a suit and tie. It helped a lot for me to
get properly sized shirts, since I have a big neck, and the standard shirt will not likely even button and if
it does, will be nearly strangling me. Getting a nice big neck sized shirt helped a lot.
I haven't even looked at a suit or tie since the last funeral I had to attend, and have no intention of wearing
one otherwise. But, I no longer hate them. Jeans is my uniform these days. A golf shirt with a collar is
dressing up. A collared, ironed shirt is for a special occasion.
Bill
major scientific research institutions, and meeting with the top dogs, and staff and fairly often political
folks (the odd US ambassador or foreign equiv) it became necessary to wear a suit and tie. I am sure I could
have gotten away with it, but in my estimation, meeting new people and needing to be taken seriously
right off the bat, the suit and tie were necessary. After ten years of it, for 2-4 weeks pretty much every
day, about 2-3 times per year, I got pretty comfortable with a suit and tie. It helped a lot for me to
get properly sized shirts, since I have a big neck, and the standard shirt will not likely even button and if
it does, will be nearly strangling me. Getting a nice big neck sized shirt helped a lot.
I haven't even looked at a suit or tie since the last funeral I had to attend, and have no intention of wearing
one otherwise. But, I no longer hate them. Jeans is my uniform these days. A golf shirt with a collar is
dressing up. A collared, ironed shirt is for a special occasion.
Bill
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Clip on's were standard issue in the Troops. Not only that, but they were a knit fabric and every crumb from that sub you stuffed down in the car ended up there, caught for eternity. I don't know if it's still like this, but some of the ladies of questionable reputation used to display purple ties like a line up of trophies. (Ahem!)
I don't mind wearing a monkey suit once in a while, that time period being once every 5 years or so, but I really do wish I was built for them. No matter what I get it looks like it fits wrong. My maternal grandfather was one of those tall, slender men that could make any suit look great and his tailored suits made him look like a million bucks. He's also the only man I ever knew that owned tailored suits. Short and stout ain't built for looking like Cary Grant.
I don't mind wearing a monkey suit once in a while, that time period being once every 5 years or so, but I really do wish I was built for them. No matter what I get it looks like it fits wrong. My maternal grandfather was one of those tall, slender men that could make any suit look great and his tailored suits made him look like a million bucks. He's also the only man I ever knew that owned tailored suits. Short and stout ain't built for looking like Cary Grant.
RBHarter
West Central AR
Nobody looks bad in Armoni ........ But who buys a suit for a once or twice a year event ?
X one and I attended several semiformal , better dressed events each yr . I had 2 jackets , 3 pairs of pants , and a vest that nicely covered the winter freeze and summer swelter . I think I've worn a tie maybe 5 times since highschool . It was required for concert band , semi formal , and formal events . The last formal suit , tux actually , I wore made me look like the Monopoly man . Like all the shirts available by the time I get a jacket around my neck and shoulders there's a circus tent around my waist .
X one and I attended several semiformal , better dressed events each yr . I had 2 jackets , 3 pairs of pants , and a vest that nicely covered the winter freeze and summer swelter . I think I've worn a tie maybe 5 times since highschool . It was required for concert band , semi formal , and formal events . The last formal suit , tux actually , I wore made me look like the Monopoly man . Like all the shirts available by the time I get a jacket around my neck and shoulders there's a circus tent around my waist .
blackthorn
Active Member
My last job before retirement was as part of an administrative tribunal and required the male members to wear suit and tie. I HATE TIES! At one point a politically correct nut was hired to chair the whole outfit. He just about wrecked the organization by hiring a bunch of young women, and several folks from the lesbian/gay community along with a couple of "visible minorities" (who could barely speak English, let alone produce written "findings" that would stand up to a judicial review). He was so bad that eventually there was a petition sent to government to have him removed. Now, about that time there was an article in the paper about a German female politician who launched a crusade against wearing ties during their formal gatherings, on the basis that a tie represented a "Phallic symbol". I cut the article out and was going to approach this nut-job using it to try to convince him we were opening our tribunal to censure on a political correctness basis. Alas, the day I brought it in, he got transferred out of our organization----dang, so close!
CZ93X62
Official forum enigma
Suits are not my favorite thing to wear. But they CERTAINLY have their place in some situations where I worked for almost 28 years.
In court--invariably, when I was assigned to the drug lab task force or dismantling those things for my own agency, I spent a good percentage of that time "on call" for court appearances. I took a suit with me to change into when the call to court came in. If you want to be taken seriously as a witness, you need to look like you are serious about being there. I recall a couple of our dope cops getting called in from a surveillance crew to testify in a preliminary hearing. Mind you, this surveillance was under way in Palm Desert in August--110* to 115* temps. But you STILL don't show up for court wearing Hawaiian print shirts, Bermuda cargo shorts, and huaraches. C'MON, MANG.
The latter end of my career was spent working a "Crimes Against Persons" tasking. Mode of dress can mean the world in this assignment. Lots of death notifications get made working this venue, and a suit is UTTERLY MANDATORY for this role. More than half of all murders get their first clues or "hooks" discovered during these notifications, so you dress for that occasion. At the other end of that extreme, you DON'T wear a monkey suit and tie to get down on the floor to play with or read stories to child victims and witnesses for rapport-building. LEGO skills and good stories are the keys here, and soft clothes in a soft room are a lot less threatening to little ones.
In court--invariably, when I was assigned to the drug lab task force or dismantling those things for my own agency, I spent a good percentage of that time "on call" for court appearances. I took a suit with me to change into when the call to court came in. If you want to be taken seriously as a witness, you need to look like you are serious about being there. I recall a couple of our dope cops getting called in from a surveillance crew to testify in a preliminary hearing. Mind you, this surveillance was under way in Palm Desert in August--110* to 115* temps. But you STILL don't show up for court wearing Hawaiian print shirts, Bermuda cargo shorts, and huaraches. C'MON, MANG.
The latter end of my career was spent working a "Crimes Against Persons" tasking. Mode of dress can mean the world in this assignment. Lots of death notifications get made working this venue, and a suit is UTTERLY MANDATORY for this role. More than half of all murders get their first clues or "hooks" discovered during these notifications, so you dress for that occasion. At the other end of that extreme, you DON'T wear a monkey suit and tie to get down on the floor to play with or read stories to child victims and witnesses for rapport-building. LEGO skills and good stories are the keys here, and soft clothes in a soft room are a lot less threatening to little ones.
Last edited:
I've heard you don't need pants or shoes for YOUR funeral. I don't attend them anyway. Years ago, preacher said don't need suit coat at church in the summer - ties either.
Few years back Seattle had 115F summer and 17F winter. Didn't bother me much as I was there only a couple days.
Few years back Seattle had 115F summer and 17F winter. Didn't bother me much as I was there only a couple days.
Suits and ties are required for church when presenting our ministry, of course. Thew frustrating thing is staying in one size. All the preachers want to take us out to eat, or over to a senior church member's house with the roast beef and seconds of dessert, and so on. It's hard to say no. Then it's off to Cambodia for fourteen months. My 34" suit fit after Cambodia, but my 38" suit is a tight fit now. Our church missions director advises to keep one pair of suits for stateside travel, and one for after you get back from overseas. Wouldn't give up the ministry, though.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I dunnno who Armoni is, but chances are he/she doesn't sell suits or suitcoats at Pennys or Sears and certainly not at Tractor Supply, which is where most of my clothing comes from. I also doubt a name is going to make my Homer Simpson good looks any better than they are now, even if I did pay more than $50 for the suit!
My old partner is something of a social butterfly, or rather, his wife is so he gets dragged along. He actually owns a tux of his very own. Got it off Ebay for something like $75.00, had it altered to fit good locally and tells me he's worn it at least a dozen times over 10 years. That works out to no more than a few bucks per session vs $100-150 plus to rent one that might have stains that show up under a black light on it. I always thought he was brilliant for that move!
My old partner is something of a social butterfly, or rather, his wife is so he gets dragged along. He actually owns a tux of his very own. Got it off Ebay for something like $75.00, had it altered to fit good locally and tells me he's worn it at least a dozen times over 10 years. That works out to no more than a few bucks per session vs $100-150 plus to rent one that might have stains that show up under a black light on it. I always thought he was brilliant for that move!
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
I wore a tux once. That was enough. I am fine with a decent quality, but not really expensive suit.
I had one hand made Italian suit made when we were living in Italy. Really sharp.....but that was in the
early 70s and it almost certanily wouldn't fit well any more (although I have only gained about a ten lbs)
but the slightly flared pants and double breasted, wide-ish lapels......nope, not cool any more.
Bill
I had one hand made Italian suit made when we were living in Italy. Really sharp.....but that was in the
early 70s and it almost certanily wouldn't fit well any more (although I have only gained about a ten lbs)
but the slightly flared pants and double breasted, wide-ish lapels......nope, not cool any more.
Bill