Dressing for Protest

I am known around work for my fashion sense. I have a penchant for wild ties and socks.

Here you can see me wearing my coffee tie.  I bring this subject up, because a friend who had earlier complimented me on my taste in clothing--she said I would do particularly well in Cambodia, where the people love clashing colors--recently told me she had been thinking and felt that I was actually engaging in some sort of "punk protest" by dressing the way I do.

I wasn't sure how to take that; I hadn't thought of it that way before. If anything, I thought of it as a flowering of my inner self, more willing to wear wild work clothes because I enjoyed them. When I look back at previous jobs, I worked for a long time at a business publisher, and I remember I was the only man who didn't wear a tie to work. I did that, I think, because I was an editor who rarely met authors face-to-face, and didn't feel it was necessary to wear a tie. I also didn't enjoy wearing one, so as long as I could get away without, I would go tieless. My next job was a brief stint as a teacher, and I remember the principal telling me that he wanted male teachers to wear ties and suit jackets, because he felt it was a symbol of respect for the important work they do. I didn't have a choice on what I wore, but I respected his telling me why, and I agreed with him that teaching is a very important job.

Now I come to my current job, working for Maryknoll Lay Missioners, and I find myself as the only male wearing a tie. I feel that principal influenced me in deciding to wear a tie at work, because I think what we do at Maryknoll is very important, but I would wear wild ones, because I wanted to express my new love for colorful clothing. Below, I am sharing Ethiopian food with my thoughtful friend and wearing my Starry Night tie with my favorite purple shirt.

 Please note, I've received positive feedback from the people I work with for my ties and socks. Yet, I know I have a certain dislike for the corporate workplace, so perhaps my choice of ties and socks is a rebellion of sorts. In general, however, I don't think of Maryknoll as a corporate workplace. We are not motivated by making money, we are motivated to make a difference, guided by our Christian faith (let me add that all faiths are welcome to serve on staff). So while some things remain the same, there is always a different feeling about the workplace here than I experienced elsewhere.

Here above, you see me wearing my goose/duck tie while taking a lunch break with a friend and her son (pictured). So perhaps I am in constant rebellion against our money-driven society here in the U.S., where profit-making has done us more harm than good, in my oh-so-humble opinion. Most of my ties are gifts or purchased at my church's thrift shop, another way to avoid the commercial exploitation.

Perhaps my flair for clothing has gone on longer than I first thought. See above a picture of me in my struggling acting days, when I paid the rent by working at a adult movie theater selling popcorn and sodas to patrons.

And then there was that tux I wore at my senior prom. Whatever my motivation, I plan to continue wearing those ties and socks.

I almost forgot, I found a tie much to my taste this morning, abandoned, hanging from a doorknob. I guess God wants me to keep wearing these ties as well.