Polite Savages (tm)

Don't Take Your Shoes Off During a Business Meeting

 

I'm back after a long summer hiatus!  I have a lot of adventures to share with you.  However, before I tell you about what I learned on my time off, I advise you never to take your shoes off during a business meeting. 

This morning I attended a seminar at a law firm that my company uses as outside counsel. Though we are a client, I put on a suit and tie, fashionable of course.  Usually Iwear business casual but I thought it would be nice to dress up and put on a pretty face.  Let's face it, people are nicer to you if you pay the bill but they are even nicer if you pay the bill and look nice too.  As I've said again and again, your dress and hygiene is a sign of respect for those around you.  This makes a big difference in business.

If you look at the photograph, you'll notice that you can see the foot of your run of the mill conference table and the feet and shoes of the person sitting next to me.  Gross!  This was a presentation at a fancy law firm which I think merits a certain level of decorum.  Read, don't take your shoes off.  It's off putting and disturbing.  Especially because I was sitting there in my Paul Smith suit, constricting Aquascutum tie and dress shoes.  Sure I would have loved to attended the seminar in shorts and sandals but I didn't.  I sat properly and listened attentively while suffering in my business wear.

I advise you to do the same the next time you attend any business meeting that doesn't take place in your bedroom.

Just Say No to Crocs

    Crocs are OK for kids but adults should never wear them.  Something about them seem desperate.  While they may be orthotic and conform to one's feet, they really are for children.  Crocs are for a specific segment.  It's like those people that walk around wearing chef's clogs on the street because they're really comfortable.  Lots of shoes are comfortable but certain shoes need to stay in their place. 

Familes that Coordinate

     Yes, that's true to a degree.  I know you've seen best friends that wear similar outfits.  Fathers and sons with matching sweaters and mother and daughters wearing the same dresses but in different sizes.  Such coordinated clothing can be found on the Internet from Hanna Andersson.  Apparently Swedish families love looking like they just stepped off the stage from a way-off Broadway production of The Sound of Music.

     One of the benefits of living in an economically developed society is that there is a plethora of inexpensive goods available in the marketplace.  Family members don't need to look the same.  People can afford to express their individuality.  And if families want to identiy as families then do it where it really means something, on the inside.  Share the same values and beliefs but don't share the same clothes.

 

Chanto and Men in Undershirts

    

     I just came back from the loveliest dinner at Chanto with a dear friend of mine who dissed me on my birthday.  He replied that he would attend and then never showed up.  While he did call later in the evening to let me know, I was not too pleased.  So the lesson from that story is that if you commit to going to an event, you should follow through or else your host just might hate you.  What if your host is relying on a headcount or has prepaid for a meal?  It's just rude not to show up.  Granted if there was a true emergency like he was hit by a car, I would have been more understanding.  But enough berating and preaching.  So my dear friend made up for his absence by spending some quality time with me this evening at a new and delectable Japanese restaurant.  I forgave him after we drank a bottle of sake.  Chanto was stylish and nicely sized without being overbearing unlike certain other pretentious Japanese juggernauts in this city which I will not name.  You can venture a guess.  The quality of the fish was superb and the sushi was beautifully presented.  The deal was sealed for us when we noticed that the clientele was mostly Japanese.  Then you know it's got to be good.

    During our meal we watched the summer night parade of the West Village.  We watched groups of girls struggling to emulate Sex and the City.  There were the usual tourists looking everywhere which no real New Yorker ever does.  Then we saw a good-looking gay couple that decided that it was OK to wear their underwear out of the house.  OK they weren't really that bare.  They were wearing shorts and white undershirts.  Whether they were wearing underpants was unknown to us.  My friend offered to run after them with his new iPhone to take their picture.  I declined.  I think his offer was really a result of him wanting to show off his iPhone. 

     But back to the topic at hand.  What is it about the summertime that causes people of all backgrounds, rich and poor, gay and straight, black and white, man or woman, to think that it is OK to wear undergarments in public places?  Perhaps the heat bakes good judgment out of our heads.  Or maybe it's our crotch-flashing (e.g., Britney, Lindsay and Paris), exhibitionist culture that encourages people to show off their bodies regardless of physical condition?  I just don't know.  But what I do know is that undergarments should stay under something or displayed in the privacy of one's home or at a strip club.  Except perhaps if you're really, really hot, then you can getaway with anything.