All Geeked Up ... And For What???

Today at work we have some of the company bigwigs coming to visit, so the management sends out a note asking everyone to dress business casual. Now these bigwigs will likely stay in the conference rooms, there is absolutely no way they will venture up to where we sit, and now we have to give this false impression that all of a sudden, we're all walking around in dress slacks and oxford shirts (forgoing the typical geeky ensemble of jeans and polos). What a crock of shit! If you saw how half of my company dresses, you'd shit if you knew we were lawyers. In fact, I have one friend who went to a salon recently. While she was in the reception area, she overheard the two receptionists looking over her information in the next room chattering away that there was "no way she is a lawyer" and so on. We have a very casual dress code and that is definitely one of the perks of the job.

What I find funny is this. Let's just say that one of the corporate slavedrivers comes around to where we are actually working. He "might" notice that we're all dolled up. Chances are, he probably won't. What's even funnier is the thought that we're putting on this dog and pony show by dressing up the area (some of the tech guys were walking around the building today removing old monitors from alongside walls or cubes that have been there about 6 or 7 months). Now, these guys didn't get where they are by being stupid. They know we don't dress like this everyday; they know that not every guy is going to perfectly shaved; they know that we're not dressing like we work in a law office in downtown L.A.; they know that it is a working environment which will be a bit messy. Yet, management will have us put on the face that we do all of this everyday.

I only wonder what the bigwigs think about it. You know they're probably thinking "These guys are so full of shit. We know that this place is not this tidy; we know that these guys aren't dressing like this everyday." In a sense, it's almost like an insult; like we're saying they're not smart enough to know. I'd like to think if I were one of these bigwigs someday, I'd just tell everyone to dress like you normally do because there is no sense in affecting the flow of everyday business because I'm in the building in a conference room nowhere near you. If I were making the money that these slave drivers make, I'd probaby want to see everyone dressed down because if they're dressed up, I'm thinking they make too much money.

It's this line of thinking, i.e. put on the best face despite the problems going on, that is counterproductive. When I was in the Army, Ft. Hood, TX was a hell hole. The on-post family housing was horrible. There was never enough money to renovate housing; there were some places where the ceilings were sagging due to water damage; some homes were having electrical problems (i.e. entire rooms without working electricity); sewage problems, and just being generally deteriorated. People who lived in public housing in cities were getting better maintenance on their places than the families of US soldiers living on Ft. Hood, TX. Then, we got a new Sgt. Major of the Army, which is the highest ranking non-commissioned officer in all of the U.S. Army. He went to Ft. Hood for a visit/inspection. The post leadership did the whole "take him to the most renovated places". He saw right through it. Instead, the Sgt. Major found the most run-down sections of base, wrote down a list of what was wrong, and started chewing on some asses. Things got fixed because he didn't want the whole "everything is swell" facade. If you've got problems with something, put 'em out front. You can't fix what you can't see. Not that there is a ton wrong with where I work, but some little things could always use improving and if the big wigs can't see it, they can't chew on asses to get things fixed.

Fuck ... I'm starting to sound like Andy Rooney ..........