January 27, 2012

"Dublin dole office bans those in pyjamas."

"There is a psychological aspect and pyjamas are associated with sleeping at night and comfort in the home...  You have to get into the mindset of what you are doing that day. So if you are wanting to get a job, go dressed prepared to get a job."

Oh, come on. People dress to express themselves. These "pyjama"-wearers are telling the government something important about the way they feel about the "dole." Don't squelch the communication. Don't stanch the flow of information between citizen and government.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

the dole office is telling its clients what most taxpayers would probably tell them given the chance. Let's not stanch that flow of information either.

Unknown said...

What's wrong with their post office, they should send their checks by mail or Paypal, then the dole-ees don't have to get out of bed.

Wince said...

I blame those right-wing kooks at Pajamas Media.

Ms. Garrison: "Oh that's too bade dude. Maybe if you boys could keep your penises in your pants once in a while, you'd get more done."

Butters: "But teacher, my penis never slips outta my pants... except sometimes when I wear pajamas."

(Wait a few seconds for audio.)

Synova said...

Are they going to the dole office to get a job? Then they ought to dress for getting a job. If they are going for the handout then trying to be controlling is just wanting to make people jump through hoops. This sounds like its a job service office.

TWM said...

I love the word "dole."

If only Wal-Mart would have the same policy.

edutcher said...

The final evolution of the slob culture.

Now, if only SEIU and ACORN could move voting booths right next to their couch...

Synova said...

Are they going to the dole office to get a job?

If it's like this country, it's where they'd go for counseling, to straighten out welfare, unemployment, etc. snafus, maybe get a line on a job.

ricpic said...

Hugh Hefner should be held up to these layabouts as an example of working hard in silk pajamas no less.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

What? They don't sell Pajama Jeans in Dublin?

Sigivald said...

Telling them not to do so is also communication, and arguably a more important one than sucking at the State's tit so comfortably one shows up in one's pajamas.

In fact, this communication from the State might well be a result of exactly that "flow of information" you're talking about.

Richard Dolan said...

Insisting on a minimum level of decorum and manners in public offices is not a crime against the First Amendment (which in all events the Irish don't have). In Britain, for example, the Human Rights Act of 1998, codifying the EU's Convention on Human Rights) specifies that "everyone has the right to freedom of expression" but then notes that any such right is qualified as "necessary in a democratic society." Ireland presumably has something similar.

Even in the US where the First Amendment is a bedrock of our conception of liberty, judges expect those coming to court to be dressed decently (not necessarily fancily). I recall a news report a year or two ago noting that a federal judge had refused to proceed where one of the parties (a rap music personality of some repute) showed up in a skin-tight leather miniskirt and equally skimpy blouse, and told her to return properly dressed for court. I can't imagine any serious question about the judge's authority to take that action or the constitutional propriety of what the judge did.

While dress in these circumstances is, at least to some extent, expressive communication, it is also subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions that are more than adequate to justify the limitations on expressive conduct. Just as a government official can insist that anyone seeking services in a government office must be clothed (the naked need not apply), so too they can insist on minimal standards of dress. There is line-drawing that inevitably must be done, but this doesn't remotely approach a line that might raise a free speech issue even in the US.

traditionalguy said...

Dole makes great canned Pineapple.

They grow them in the Hawaiian Islands, put them on ships going to the Philippines, and then ship the canned product back to the USA from there.

It seems that Hawaiians would rather lie around in pajama like clothes than work in a cannery for low wages, no overtime and no worker's com or insurance benefits.

Geoff Matthews said...

It's like wearing sweats in public. You're basically saying that you've given up.
If you've given up on yourself, why shouldn't society give up on you?

Holmes said...

Yeah, they say, "I'm depressed because my life has no significance or meaning. You've taken that from me and I've given it up willingly too."

Blair said...

I think if the Irish taxpayer is paying for you to sit on your arse and do nothing, you'll damn well wear what he tells you to, and you'd bloody well better look for a job!

Carnifex said...

"Idiocracy" coming to a life near you. In one scene, Frito is sitting in his living room on a big recliner watching tv. He stands up to answer the knock at his door, and the plush recliner flushes while he pulls up his pants.

Frito is the lawyer who got his degree from Costco. He was lucky to get in, but he was a legacy.

If you wish to see the future we're slouching too, watch "Idiocracy".

Synova said...

My theme today was "pull up your pants." It seems like every young man I looked at had his blue jeans waste-band just below his bum. On other days it's been "Girl, did you know you have a butt crack? I didn't need to see that, 'kay?"

Fussing about pajamas or sweats seems silly to me when the young men have their pants half down and the girls all have a plumbers butt crack sticking out.

Sometimes pajama pants are a thing of beauty.

Synova said...

waist

*sigh*