Camo Pants, Finally

 So there I was, in an office.  It was a 90 day temporary position.  We kept records of which office had what furniture and equipment.  Sounds stupid, but it was a law at the time.  But I was good at it.  After 2 weeks, the Boss asked if I wanted to stay.  Well, it was a 20% increase in pay and no holiday work.  DAMN HELL YES!

I "dressed for success".  3 piece navy pinstripe suits, fancy ties, even a pocket watch.  As the Boss told me "dress for the job you want next".  He liked me and I liked him (he could dictate a letter on the fly with a moment's notice on the oddest things).  Funny thing about him was that he was "merely" an ensign in WWII but boss of Officers from then.  I loved it.  And I think he saw the same attitude in me.

I got promoted.  But I have a flaw.  I ask troublesome questions and I'm not very hierarchical.  They say "you have to go along to get along".  I don't.  So there eventually came a point where I wasn't going to be promoted ever again.  I mean, I argued with the CEO and CFO, and that is never a big career move. 

But I really liked my job, so that was OK.  And realizing that, I decided I didn't have to "dress for success" anymore.   The first thing to go was the shiny leather shoes.  My feet hurt all the time.  I was one of the first office workers to wear "sensible shoes".  Second to go was the navy&tan outfit.  I always hated that combination.

So, following some heroes of mine, I became "The Man In Black".  Well, it was distinguishing and also identified me as a "techie".  And it is hard to mismatch "black".  I was clever user at computers, but never really a "techie".  The black clothes helped the image.  Sad as it may seem, Management reacts to the way you  dress.  And they don't argue with "techies" much.  Tech stuff is out of their realm.  

So I retired the first day I could.  I hated the hour-long commute.  And I was away from The Mews 12 hours a day.  Basically, I was involved at work and commuting 12 hours each workday.  Had to make dinner and do household chores, play with the cats and go to bed in 4 hours.

Retirement was an "escape".  Every promotion I got, half the gain went into stocks.  My needs are cheap.  The retirement annuity itself was sufficient; the stocks were gravy.

And THAT  is when I went into camo pants.  You knew I would get there eventually, right?

Utterly non-office dress.  Completely the opposite of office wear.  A rebellion against the years of "dressing for success" to suggest to bosses that I was worthy of promotions (regardless of merit as so many others got promoted).  I was free.

So "camo pants man" I became.  And I do like the look.  I was a bow-deer-hunting guy in my teens and 20s and always appreciated it then.  And I returned to that after retirement.  I don't mean for a moment to suggest I was in camo as some sort of "military" wanna-be, just that I liked the idea of slipping into the woods and not being noticed much (even if it is just my own backyard).

So, next week, I will have many brand-spanking-new camos of several colors (with hats to match, LOL).  And nice solid black or green shirts to wear with them.  

That's my "camo pants" story...  If you read this stuff to the end, you deserve a graphic badge: