Jean-ius Story

That's right, I went there.

So for the last two months, our company has given us the "right" to wear jeans every day. It was in honor of us doing good work or something, and it was supposed to end today.

So this morning, for the first time since June, I woke up and put on some khakis and my nice brown shoes to go to work. I arrived at 8:30, and fifteen minutes later, I received an email from management.

"Congratulations! We've extended the jeans celebration until Friday!"

Hmmm. Thanks. I'm already at work, and I'm already not wearing jeans. Couldn't you have sent this, I don't know, last night?

Needless to say, some people were upset. My coworker, who's in the process of moving, even went to the same-day dry cleaners to get clean pants at a cost of $30. I told him to see if he could get that reimbursed, but no one could even think of how to go about doing that.

And a lot of us went home for lunch and changed back into jeans. That'll show 'em.

And it got me thinking....why just extend it to Friday? Why not let us wear jeans every day? We're allowed to wear jeans every Friday, anyway, and we've been wearing jeans every day since July 1. Have we been horribly unprofessional for the last two months? Highly inefficient? If you looked at the numbers between August 31 (jeans) and September 1 (no jeans), would they be noticeable?

It isn't like we meet a lot of clients, here. Especially us poor cube monkeys...we never meet with clients. And if we ever did, we get plenty of advanced warning through email - they could tell us to dress up on certain days, and the place could look professional.

But like at my old job, it shouldn't matter what we wear. I could wear pajamas, and I'd perform my job the exact same way. I might even, you know, feel comfortable at my job. Then so many people wouldn't hate it so much.

I realize that a lot of the higher-ups are older gentlemen. On their first day of work, they were greeted by tons of old men in business suits and hats. People were professional, and that's the way it was everywhere.

Guess what? Those days are over. And while certain situations still require that sense of professionalism, most situations don't. Most places have gotten rid of ties and hats and suits altogether. Business professional in the modern cube farm is all but dead, and now is a great time to move all the way into "casual."

We're moving in the right direction - just not quickly enough. But I'm guessing that, by the time my generation is in charge, the American workplace will be a lot more comfortable. And, by association, a lot happier.