Mom Was Right

After All!

To the Editor:

My mother was a farmer. Farmers have rules, a concept not lost upon my mother. On Sunday, she prepared breakfast, made sure everyone’s shoes were shined, but required everyone to be fully dressed for church because my mother’s rule was, “If you dress for anything, you dress for church.” I would later learn, you dress to honor the person whom you are about to meet, which certainly explained my mother’s rule.

During the dotcom boom, with money fast and easy, business casual was adopted by many. When the bubble burst and things got tough, people went back to wearing business suits. The firm where I am employed has always had the “suit rule” for all sales and management personnel. Even recently, when our largest customer adopted business casual as appropriate, we stayed with the suits. Later, their procurement personnel reverted back to wearing suits during our visits claiming our being dressed gave us a competitive advantage in price negotiations.

There is no doubt, for many, being properly dressed shows respect for the position, keeps the mind focused, and the person behaves on a higher moral plane. It may also offer some insight into the character of the individual as these traits tend to be instilled early in life. Have you noticed that Herb Rosenthal is almost always dressed in a suit or sport jacket and tie?

Sincerely,

Mark Dennen

Old Green Road, Sandy Hook                                           May 15, 2007