The store manager clearly agrees with me, seeing as he chastises the girls, but his words are both lost on and unimportant to the girls and everyone else around. As I said before, I usually do not mind our societies infatuation with bare skin, but when it is at church or in a place that demands certain clothes, such as at a supermarket where it would be easy to spread sickness or disease, I think it only respectful to oblige. How can you expect anyone to respect you if you show up to church, CHURCH, in a miniskirt and a v-neck? That's outrageous. I get that just going is better than a lot of people, just as the girls in the story at least pay for what they are getting, but still it isn't that hard to put on jeans and a nice shirt, or in the case of the girls to put on some shoes. Why anyone would want to go into a supermarket in bare feet to begin with baffles me, that would be nasty who knows what's on that floor, but to go in without shoes or any clothes more than the equivalent of your underwear is just dirty in general. We have all seen the pictures of Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears wearing no shoes in public restrooms and flashing the whole world, yet we are okay with that? I personally don't care what they do, but clearly it has set the stage for what has become an extraordinarily casual society that we live in and its getting to be a bit much for me. I am not saying that church, supermarkets, or anywhere else for that matter needs to mandate a certain dress code because I believe it is a free country and people should be able to wear what they want, I just also believe that there should be a certain level of self-respect and dignity maintained. Show what you want, but at the right times.
Monday, September 21, 2009
A Bit Much
In the story A&P by John Updike, the girls come into the story scantily clad, and are chastised for doing so, yet I feel more and more in this world we are becoming okay with less and less clothing. This is of course evident through all parts of life. Celebrities, fashion, even just general dress has become more and more about covering less and less. Usually, I am fine with this fact. Let's be honest, I am a seventeen year old boy. I am still, however, a person who believes there is a time for all of that but there should still be time to put clothes on and be civilized. Clearly, walking into a grocery store without shoes is both improper and pretty gross in general. This fact really struck home today when I went to church. I am still pretty young, but even I remember the days of getting dressed up to go to church. When my grandmother was a young girl it was the time everyone dressed up to look their best for the rest of their friends at church and just to look nice in general. But today when I walked in feeling pretty casual myself in jeans and a long-sleeve collared shirt rolled up I found a large percentage of the people around me dressed in t-shirts and shorts. Now, this is Arizona and there is such a thing as West Coast casualness but this is taking it way to far. When I look around and see every girl in short jean shorts a tank top and flip-flops I can't help but think that something is wrong.
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Josh, I think your post is a really interesting piece of your own social commentary; what I'm trying to figure out right now is whether or not I think it's really the main issue of the story. Perhaps the girls are out of line, but I still sees why Sammy gets upset when Lengel tells them they aren't "decent." So I guess my answer is that while I agree with most of what you say this week, my gut tells me that the story is more about what Sammy feels, and why, than it is about the deterioration of public standards of appropriate dress and behavior (although I do have fairly strong feelings on that subject, most of which are in alignment with your thoughts--don't get me started). Thanks.
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