I continued around him and moved
back into the lane, glancing in my rearview at the little oxidized red vehicle,
I asked the Lord to bless and protect him. I steadily moved away from him and continued
on my way, but the thought of him still intrigued me.
It occurred to me that he might not
be going anywhere special. He may just be dressed for his day. You see, there
once was a time when people actually got dressed for their day. If they were
going out in public, they put on nice clothes, a suit, casual wear or a dress
that reflected their style. Even if they didn’t have a lot of money, they
always managed to have at least one nice set of clothes.
When I think about how people dress
nowadays I cringe. I find the ‘Wal-Mart people’ photos more embarrassing than
funny. I shake my head over people who think it’s okay to run to the store in
their pajamas.
I once saw a woman wearing fleece
Tweety Bird pajama pants, an oversize t-shirt with some other kind of cartoon
picture on it, and fuzzy pink slippers. She looked like she literally climbed
out of bed and headed to the store. She was not running in for an item or two
either, she had a full cart of groceries. Really? You thought your nightwear
was appropriate attire for your weekly shopping trip?
Just recently I saw a whole family
shopping together, mom in her pink hearts pj’s, dads were covered in some food
logo; and the kids, well, all three of them were dressed in jeans and sweaters
or sweatshirts. I found it interesting that the kids knew how to get dressed
but the parents didn’t, and it was a weekend, so they weren’t dressed for
school.
My own Mother, at 80, still got dressed
to go to the store, even if it was just around the corner to pick up her
medicines at the pharmacy. It might be a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt
with some fun picture on it, but it certainly wouldn’t be her pj’s.
What is this lack of care about? Why
has our society decided that dressing appropriately for going out in public is
no longer necessary? You wouldn’t wear your swimsuit to someone’s wedding, even
if it were on the beach. You certainly wouldn’t show up to a job interview in
the wet muddy clothes you just washed the dog in either. Well, maybe, if the
job was for a dog washer.
Why
do so many people find it appropriate to dress so sloppy? I don’t agree that
poverty is the cause. I know too many people who live at or below the poverty
level who still manage to dress appropriately when going out in public.
I
truly think it is a lack of respect. A complete lack of respect not only for
others but for themselves as well. At some time in their lives, they’ve been
given the message that they are not worth the time it takes to put on decent,
clean, and appropriate clothes for going out in public. They are not worthy of
self-care, self-respect, or self-esteem. They are not worthy of respect from
others, so why should they have respect for others, or themselves.
Who
gave them this message? Who told them they are not worthy? I want to find the
culprit and slap them silly. How dare they tell people they are unworthy of
love and care, even of themselves. Who made them God?
When
Jesus was asked which of all the Commandments was the most important, He broke
them all down into just two,
“Love
God with all that you are!”
“Love
others as you would yourself!”
When
you love something, you take care of it. When you love someone, you do things
for that person to show them your love. When you love yourself, you take care
of yourself, even if it means putting on real clothes when you go to the store.
