MAE JULIAN
The Old Days
I think that I have become an old fuddy-duddy, as my mother used to say. I don’t know when the change occurred, but it seems like I was young, and before I knew it, I had turned the corner. I wouldn’t have noticed it but things keep happening that I see as incorrect. Remember those old gaffers who always were correcting you when you were young? You knew in your heart you would never be like that. Well, I’m like that!‑ Oh horrors!‑ Now, I don’t think I am asking too much for our president’s wife, and the vice president’s wife, and the president and vice president-elect’s wives to dress like they ought to!‑ Oh, for the days when John F. Kennedy was president. You never saw Jackie in pants when she was meeting the public.‑ Wearing slacks is fine for casual wear, but I think that for the president’s wife to be wearing slacks in public when they are meeting foreign dignitaries and such is not acceptable. You know, when I was in nurse’s training, at Fort Wayne Lutheran School of Nursing, we had to wear skirts or dresses any time we were on the first floor of the nursing dormitory. And that was when we were just walking around!‑ We were not allowed to meet a date if we were wearing slacks. We had a real strict old bag (as we saw her then) that was the receptionist. She was the one who received young men (our dates).‑ They had to pass her inspection or they were not allowed to see us. When we were paged in our rooms, we had to be dressed properly to go out with our boyfriends. Anyone who wasn’t approved by this sentry was turned away, whether we had a date planned or not. It was up to her to see to it that we were proper!‑ Our opinions were not solicited. That’s just the way it was.‑ If we were not in by 11 at night, we were met by a matron who grounded us from dating for whatever period of time she deemed necessary to get us in line. No one was allowed to get married. Engagements were barely tolerated. What a difference half a century has made. I’m not saying that I agreed with all the strict rules. I’m not saying that women should not wear pants. I, myself, am seldom in a dress. But if I were the First Lady of the United States, or the wife of the vice president, I would certainly be wearing proper apparel. And that would NOT be slacks or a pants suit. It makes me cringe when I see our First Ladies dressed so casually. Bring back Jackie Kennedy. Now there was a First Lady who knew how to act and dress like a First Lady.‑ I saw all of them on TV the other day, and I just shook my head. I knew what my next column was going to be about. I wonder if anyone else feels the same way?‑ I think that if you are going to be representing our country, you should at least look as presentable as we did back when I was in nursing school!‑ What has happened?
I know this is not a monumental issue, but I would love to see more formality, when formality is called for, from our leaders. If the men can wear suits and ties, then why can’t our First Ladies wear dresses? Now, don’t all of you write and tell me to get a life. I would just like to hold on to some of the proper things that have gone by the wayside.‑ Proper grammar and dressing correctly, when representing our country, both seem little enough to ask. And, if you are a kid, address me as Mrs. Julian, not Mae!‑ Just another pet peeve. I am on a roll tonight!
Just carrying on,
Mae
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