Sweet Freedom

tomorrow is july fourth and to celebrate my independence, i will sit in an office till 11pm, quietly researching fishing lodges in victoria and hoping the fireworks are viewable from my window.

this must've been how the prisoners at alcatraz felt each year. "i hope my cell at least has a good view."

the company that currently owns me does not respect the fourth of july as a national holiday, but is making it up to us by holding a company-wide and company-paid picnic out on angel island this weekend.

this way, anyone who is not working on the holiday can eat free food and drink beer at noon while the rest of us who do work and weren't given the day off because independence day is "not a national holiday" get ready for a long day at work.

i'm not too sure how that balances things out.

but another major move the company has made-- in hopes to please those of us who will be stuck in the office all weekend-- is allowed casual clothes to be worn for the next two weeks straight.

sort of.

here is the email i received from human resources:

Hello:

Please continue to enjoy casual dress week through the end of next week.

As a reminder, we want everyone to be comfortable, but there is a dress code that applies… even to casual dress. Please be reminded that no shorts are allowed. Attached is a copy of the company dress code for your reference.

and there is a chart, explaining that clothes either too "tight" or "loose-fitting" are both not permitted on casual days.

CLOTHES MUST FIT EXACTLY ON CASUAL DAYS.

flip-flops and sandals are never acceptable and neither are shoes that are "too worn."

on the pants-list we are warned against "jeans, sweats, cargo pants, or pants that are worn in, and shorts of any type" and "no clothes may be heavily rumpled."

they would've saved a lot of time if they had just written "basically, you still have to wear ironed slacks."

as it turns out, their definition of what is not appropriate "casual dress" is not only more formal than most of my wardrobe, but about as logical as their definition of what is not a "national holiday."

oh well. i'm spoiled to even have the chance to complain about something like this.

and i hope everyone else enjoys a fog-free, work-free fourth of july with plenty of barbecues, beers, slip n' slides and fire-street-hockey!

p.s. i'll be thinking about you, joe.