The dress code dilemma

Remember this?

Sid’s first day at work. Sid, from Wake up Sid. Well, that’s me every Monday morning.Well apart from the negligible minor physical differences, I'm Sid at that very moment, every Monday morning. It goes on till Friday. No, my dad does not own a MNC, but I feel exactly what Sid feels right then. Out of place. No, not because, IT ain’t cool. But because of the dress code. 3 out of 5 days, every morning, in the lift, I am, the only one among 18 people, to be dressed in tee-shirt and jeans. It’s been 2 years, since I’ve been working here and I try to avoid formals as much as possible. Why, because I find it uncomfortable. Till this date, it hasn’t affected my performance or that of the team’s. But the Windsor Ramanujams and Louis Mukul Phillipes would flatly disagree.  The 5 minutes that I spend in reaching the 11^th floor has got to be the most critical of all the minutes in my entire day. Hey, I don’t even wear tees with writings like this or like this. Mine’s a simple, non-sky-blue colour, pure cotton, round neck tee-shirt. That, along with a pair of non-comfort fit jeans, has the power to change the contour lines on their faces from plains to volcanic mountain ranges.  And it’s in no way obscene. There is no skin show or a baal ka dukaan open either. Why then, am I constantly reminded that my dressing sense may be counterproductive to business?

At client locations, folks come in shorts and flip flops. Some come along with their cats and dogs. Some of the smartest minds of the industry work there. If they aren’t particular about us being in formals for client meetings, why then should I dress my arse in pleated, dark coloured, trousers and my feet with shiny black leather for normal days? Considering, all I do is sit behind my cubicle, interacting with clients, on phone or through mails, why then should, the security at the gate, send me back home, for not wearing a tie, on a hot Monday morning.? Are such strict measures really necessary?  In fact, I still don’t understand why any boss would fire someone like her, on grounds of bad dressing.

As long as the employee’s clothes aren’t a source of distraction at work, or a topic for water cooler gossips, or don’t influence market ka-booms, I don’t see why an IT company like mine, should have a stringent dress code.