All mothers, at some point, need to explain to their offspring basic stuff such as the regular use of the toothbrush and the consistent change of socks and knickers. It would be a crime to parenting if such things were not instilled into children. It sometimes requires humiliation and embarrassment but, thankfully, only in the privacy of the home. Obviously such difficult subjects are broached so as children can be launched into the world and be able to conduct themselves in a socially acceptable manner plus have friends.
During the school holidays, and I'm talking about when I was a school girl, I would sleep well into the afternoon and sometimes still be in my nightie when my mother came home from work. Oh the shame! This always resulted in me getting a mouthful of abuse from her telling me I was slovenly, lazy and a down right slob for not having the wherewithal to get my body washed and dressed ready to start the day. An even worse crime would be hanging the washing on the line, which was in the back garden, still wearing said nightie or worse still opening the door to someone still wearing night clothes. (We all know the joke about the door in the pajamas so I'm going to spare you that). Just because we lived on a council estate didn't mean we had to act common, she said.
Basically my mother taught me the importance of getting washed and dressed in the morning as a way of making a good impression to the world.
Now it seems that this parenting skill has been forgotten in some parts as it has become necessary for some establishments to issue some dress code guidelines which include
NO PAJAMAS
The World Expo will held in Shanghai this year and city officials are having a crack down on pajama wearing in public. It seems that the Shanghai population are in the habit of wearing their Pj's in the street on a regular basis and it is up to an official to point out that this is not correct etiquette. Apparently before the Beijing Olympics 2008 the same guidelines were issued.
A branch of Tescos in St. Mellons, Cardiff, after receiving complaints from properly brought up shoppers, has found it necessary to have a dress code posted at the front of the store which states;
'To avoid causing embarrassment to others we ask that our customers are appropriately dressed when visiting our store (footwear must be worn at all times and no nightwear is permitted).'
Unbelievably but true Tescos then had complaints from the pajama wearing contingent saying that its just wasn't fair to bring in such a rule because then it stopped parents 'popping in' AFTER they have dropped their kids off at school. So that means not only have they not been in the shower and put clothes on to go to the supermarket they have not had the basic common sense to get themselves washed and dressed before taking their children to school. What sort of message is that?
At the risk of giving too much information, I do not wear anything under my pajamas. No underwear is what I'm saying. I was taught that it wasn't hygenic. So the big question is "Do people who wear pajamas in the street, at the supermaket, in the car, etc. wear their underwear underneath?" If the answer is no then the image of those flapping flys in mens pajamas pops into my head. You know the ones with no button...Oh Lord did their mother teach them anything?
PS I can find loads of photographs of Chinese people wearing pajamas in the street and actually in Hong Kong is it quite common. I could find none in Tescos!
The irony is that Tesco's have Stephen Fry in their ads in his jim jams
Posted by: Paul | February 06, 2010 at 06:16 PM