Manners and More: 'Attiring thinking'

By Christine Kurtz-White

The recent heat wave, which has wreaked such distress and discomfort, jolted M&Ms memories of growing up in the sub-tropics where heat indices would have rivaled those reported for the past 10 days or so. Of course, back in the old days," the world was not grappling with global warming, didnt even have a glimmering of what the world was coming to and conservation of natural resources was only a murmur of what was to come.Summer was everyday at and on the beach, in the ocean, soaking up the lethal rays of the sun, pride in how tan one could become. Nighttime provided no relief; in fact, the high temperatures and humidity roused the sand flies and their relentless attack through the window screens - closing the windows was, obviously, no alternative. M&M kept a bucket of Sand Fly Stay-Away in her bedroom and, several times during the night would scrub the smelly solution on her screens to gain only temporary relief. Northerners would recognize the sand flies as noseeums.During those days of unrelenting heat, M&Ms parents and their generation were dealing with The Great Depression and, subsequently, with World War II. The heat was irrelevant; in fact, M&M sometimes wondered if, with all they were contending with, it really bothered them. Although, she does recall her father getting up early before breakfast, exercising and doing yard work, which, he claimed, caused him to break out in sweat and stimulated his cooling system for the rest of the day. Then, he dressed, coat and tie, and drove to town in an un-air-conditioned car to spend his workdays in un-air-conditioned offices.M&M thinks it may be interesting to her readers to divert to an historical note: air-conditioning had been around for a while but had yet to be utilized on a mass basis. The construction of the Miami Beach hotels, famed for creating awareness of that strip of valuable real estate, were built just prior to the War and were air-conditioned, truly a huge surge in what would later be a jump ahead in the developing tourism industry. But, the federal government, in need of housing for air force officer candidate training, took over all the hotels for the duration of the War. And, M&M recalls with great nostalgia, the handsome and fit young men marching on the Boardwalk. Sometimes, if she were lucky, they would take an at ease right at the beach where she played! Oh my! And she was only 12 years old!Which brings M&M to yet another topic, although related to the tropical heat, which prevailed and intensified even more with the continuing destruction of the ozone layer. Scientists and conservationists place the blame for this rapid escalation of environmental deterioration on peoples uneducated and uncaring handling of the natural resources with which they were blessed. Unfortunately, there was no mobilization of forces to mount an intelligent and focused campaign to contain the pollution and address it on a continuing basis, M&M recalls that some good corporate citizens did introduce containment policies wherein they restricted, and thus reduced, the use of electric power in the hopes of encouraging their customers and the general population to conserve accordingly. M&M remembers how the bright, even gaudy, building signs were dimmed, and then turned off completely in the early evening. Also, during working hours, air conditioning temperatures were lowered to the level where the dew point was raised and, accordingly, so was the discomfort of the occupants.It was then that senior management of the large savings and loan association where M&M was the assistant vice president, manager of recruitment, selection and placement, ordered her to issue a memo regarding dressing to be cool and comfortable and, of course, to appear businesslike as they were always expected to be. Well, M&M, who was unofficially the arbiter of fashion for the organization and who had written the guidelines in a booklet entitled First and Feminine, was at a loss as to what to say. Ultimately, the women were advised that they would not jeopardize their positions if they opted not to wear stockings and, if they could get away with it, neither slips or petticoats. Light summer clothing would be acceptable as would be short sleeves for the men, so long as they wore ties.M&M honestly believes that this is how casual dress one day a week first made its way into the business world. When it was hot, every day was acceptable for a while. But ultimately, the relaxed rules were abused and today, have fallen into disrepute. M&M proposes to continue the discussion in her next column and will welcome her readers comments.Christine Kurtz-White can be reached at kurtzwhite@adelphia.net.