Hard at work..

Just taking care of business. Terri and I doing a service at the local Pine Lake Cemetery.
 

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. Things do change.

And not necessarily for the better.
I came up in a world where suits were overly important, and many industrial workers wore a suit to and from the locker room.
My first suit was worn to a family funeral, and I well recall the old man remarking he hoped I didn't grow out of it before the next funeral. Mom was sure she could turn the cuffs down if necessary. Looking back suits ay have been part of having made it through the Great Depression with the ability to One Up neighbors and family.

Suits and appropriate dresses were mandatory if you flew on an airplane, and you weren't getting a second date if you showed up to pick the girl up without minimally a sports jacket. Personally I always hated suits and ties. I don't own one and I won't wear one. OK, there is a morning coat in the back of the closet, and should the occasion dictate, I may wear it, mostly to annoy people who ask what it is. Most people I know have one funeral suit, same one they wear to every funeral and intend to be buried in..

The man who was like a second father to me owned and operated a heavy truck wrecking yard, and had no aversion to being dirty. He bought himself a white suit to be buried in, and swore the salesman about choked when he told him he didn't need cuffs he only intended to wear it for his funeral.

Still, there needs to be a bottom line of at least a hint of appropriate. Bud of mine who has been a FD since 65 and still operates his home has refused to bury people who chose to be laid out in shorts & T shirts.
Visitors and mourners in Halloween costumes seem to be becoming the norm, along with the jacked up pickup in the parking lot with a few kegs also seem to be getting more popular. Sorry, but if that's how you choose to show up at a funeral stay home.

A man or woman's funeral is their last chance to show dignity, even if they never had any, and costuming appropriate to the event seems right to me.
I'll be leaving in the same clothes I wear every day, there will be no viewing, and for all I care they can haul me in a pickup with a tarp if it's raining or snowing. There is no need for anybody to take time from their busy schedule to hang out texting either. Just drop me at the eternal file cabinet till the forklift puts me in the pallet rack.
 
Well I'm kinda wordy tonight so I will jump in on suits. My Dad had to wear suit to work everyday in the 40s and 50s, he did not seem to mind although the tie and jacket were off before he came home. That said we moved to Philadelphia in 1950 and I installed in a private school (8th grade). REGULATIONS,Suit or sport jacket,tie, NO BLUE JEANS slacks or "business pants" this when I came from Public School with farm boys. I hated it swore I would never have a job I had to wear a suit. Never did, mechanic used car hustler, Navy, Special Education School Transport,Auto Salvage Used Cars to this day NO SUIT. Who knows I might have been a bank president but for that school.
 
Look at the old pictures of the indy cars. 1920 the mechanic has bib overs and a button down shirt with a tie. I never saw my grandfather with out one either in his park uniform or a string tie if he was in his civies. Dad only at formal ocasions.
 
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