When I look at old photos, I notice many things. Different cars, different clothes, different types of houses. More suits for men, more dresses for women.
People affirm their dignity. Another induces a feeling of childlike stupidity.
No iPads, no tattoos, no blocky TVs that look like furniture, no big, long station wagons.
I also noticed that the workers were wearing much nicer clothes. Overall, the average workwear of yesteryear was better than it is today. Grocery store clerks of yesteryear were dressed with more dignity than half the people attending weddings in 2024. And the average worker in 2024 wears a uniform that does nothing but depress them. Sad but true.
The uniforms I've been seeing in stores lately are often graphic T-shirts with silly designs on the back. Of course, I would like to see more nice uniforms. Because I want everyone to wear better clothes. And I'd rather see decent clothes than tacky ones. Making our society beautiful starts with ourselves and we can all make a difference. But the argument for better store uniforms isn't just about what others find pleasing to look at. It is about the dignity and quality of life of workers.
If I worked at a store and my uniform was a bright blue graphic T-shirt with a cartoon-like design on the back, I wouldn't really feel good about what I was wearing. . I would feel stupid and foolish if I had to wear this uniform every day. It became infantile.
It can be hard to take yourself and your job seriously. If you have to do a stupid job that you hate, wearing a stupid shirt every day will only make the whole situation worse.
We believe that the benefit of these graphic t-shirt uniforms is that they are comfortable to wear. I'm sure the workers say they're comfortable, and the owners want their workers to be comfortable, too. After all, our society adores comfort. This is one of the great idols of 2024. The road to Slobworld is paved with comfort. Comfort is important, of course, but it's not the only thing that matters.
You can sacrifice your dignity for comfort. We do it every day in our culture. Additionally, a graphic T-shirt is not necessarily more comfortable than a properly fitted 100% cotton button-up shirt.
Look at old photos from the past to see what a properly fitting uniform should look like. Full-cut pants with room for easy movement. A loose-fitting button-up with plenty of fabric around the midsection, chest and biceps. The sleeves didn't feel constricting or too tight and were easy to roll up. Simple, dark shoes. The modern world of the 20th century was built on this simple uniform.
These clothes are just as comfortable as jeans and a graphic T-shirt. In fact, believe it or not, they are more comfortable. People just don't realize it. And the difference between this simple, basic uniform and an infantilized graphic tee is night and day. People affirm their dignity. Another induces a feeling of childlike stupidity.
Workers should be given dignity. After reading this, you might think that what you read next is not about clothing or style, but about insurance, vacation, and workplace safety.
But clothing is important, and it matters to everyone. A more dignified workforce means a more dignified society, and we are all entitled to a more dignified society. Better uniforms, uniforms that affirm human dignity, don't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to be detailed or particularly luxurious. It can also be simple and practical. All you need is dignity and seriousness. They need to command some kind of authority and purpose.
This was basically the look of all uniforms in the past. There was no such thing as a self-paced uniform. There was an unspoken assumption that uniforms should convey seriousness. This assumption was followed by another assumption that adults should also convey seriousness. This was the basic order of society.
Times have changed. The reason uniforms are not serious today is because society is not serious today. Men today are more likely to wear clothes that make a joke than clothes that express seriousness. Today, for most people, strength and beauty are not considered when putting together an outfit. That's how it should be. They were like that for most of history, but not today.
All of this will have a terribly negative impact on the general state of mind of the American people in 2024, but it will be even worse for workers, for whom uniforms feel more like an insult to injury than anything else. .
Why do we require our workers to wear stupid and undignified clothing? If workers are required to wear a uniform, it must be a uniform of dignity. It's good for workers, it's good for customers, and it's good for the aesthetic health of our society as a whole.
