Queen Victoria would have said: I am not amused

The Editor: I am a returned immigrant as we are called, having lived in England for some years and an extended period in the Province of Saskatchewan in Canada for a grand total of 40 years. Now I am back in Tobago and after almost eight years I was told for the first time that I was inappropriately dressed. Let me proceed to explain and you may be the judge. When I left these shores for England I was advised to walk with an overcoat, something I had never seen close-up or touched, and other items to help me to keep warm, eg Longjohns. This sounded fair to me and I complied, resulting in warmth and comfort. I want you to note the word “comfort.” When I arrived in England in the middle of summer I was expecting to find it fairly warm being summer, yet it was to me very cold for I have never encountered that degree of temperature before. Needless to say, my winter Longjohns were immediately called into service. I noticed people were always walking at a fast and steady pace. On investigation, I learnt that this was to help the body temperature to rise. Long-sleeve shirts, with ties and a jacket were used to conserve the heat produced in this fashion. Again this made sense to me resulting in my developing a much quicker pace when walking.

After seven years in England, I felt that I was acclimatised. My next stop was Saskatchewan on the Prairies. There the temperature would dip down to as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius at nights with an arctic wind gusting at times up to 60-70 kilometres an hour making it almost unbearable to walk outdoors for any long period of time. Immediately I had to make changes to the way I attired myself. I noticed the people wore Parkas, and a woolen scarf to further add warmth about the neck region. Winter boots were the order of the day; some came up to the knees to keep the deep snow out and again to provide warmth. Gloves were worn for warmth to the hands and fingers. To see a person walking down the street on a winter’s day without his coat, parka, winter boots or gloves, one would tend to remark that this person was inappropriately dressed for the weather conditions and I am sure you would agree. After living in these conditions for over 30 years, on returning to Tobago I had to immediately change my accustomed attire to suit the climate which averages 30-33 degrees Celsius daily. Out went the Longjohns, parkas, long lined winter coat, boots, gloves and scarf. The whole idea behind this action was to help get rid of the heat and not to conserve as was done in a winter climate.

Last week I had a letter to deliver to the office of the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly. I dressed myself in a pair of short pants with “the crutch where it should be”  to quote a well known educator and humorist and a light summer shirt. When I approached the Security desk and asked directions to the office of the Chief Secretary as I had a personal letter to deliver, I was promptly told I was “inappropriately dressed” to visit his office. When I asked for an explanation, it was simply stated that I was not wearing long pants which disqualified me from delivering my letter. I inquired as to who had the right to make a decision that a man was inappropriately dressed in a short pants in a tropical climate on an extremely hot day. I immediately detected an element of discrimination, for if long pants are the order of the day for males, should not all the women working and visiting Government offices be required to wear long dresses as well? You and I know that the fashion trend of the day is to wear as little as you can and not be considered nude. We see it in the offices, banks, on the street and even in the church, a place once considered  sacred. If a man is comfortable wearing a three-piece woolen suit with a tie and collar in a tropical country then this is his choice, but to have someone decide that to wear a short pants is being inappropriately dressed?

We can really get ridiculous here and create a Ministry of dress where people are paid to stand at the entrances of our Government buildings and offices  with a tape-measure in hand checking to see if the skirts and pants are of the appropriate length as decided by the Ministry and are armed with the authority to turn aside offenders.  We talk about freedoms in our democracy. No one would stand this sort of humiliation, and I did feel a tinge of humiliation when I was refused my right to communicate with my elected official.  Whoever came up with this idea must have come off the Ark with brother Noah. We in the third world countries love to copycat what is done abroad, but it seems to be only the silly and frivolous and at times matters bordering on the ridiculous. There are so many character building, nation enhancing actions which can be of great use and value to us, but these are not considered as worth emulating, eg good manners, honesty, kindness, truthfulness, consideration, a good attitude and fairness towards each other. If queen Victoria were to have been turned back in the fashion that I was, I am sure her remark would have been “I am not amused.” I believe that we should all be guided by our great standards of morality and decency, good taste, climactic conditions and finally affordability. What is your verdict?

LOU WILLIAMS
Lowlands Tobago