People of WalMart

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Alex

"If you don't like people making fun of you publicly, don't be ugly in public," seems to shift the burden of politesse in a direction I'd rather not see it go.

I think this is where the disagreement lies. To my mind it has always been this way. It's the same to me whether you are at Disneyland, snickered at by a few thousand people in one day or whether you're posted on a blog, snickered at by a few thousand people. Yes, it could go viral and hit the million mark, but dare I say that is still rare enough. I don't see much difference there.

Regarding making judgmental assumptions about underlying character and value - again, this happens anyway. If people will write it down, people will think it while walking around.

I think what's happened is that those people who would never think such things, or at least try to suppress the urge to think such things, are surprised at what's written about these people. I guess I'm outing myself as someone who does think "what the hell are they wearing". The idea that you can think that and not make assumptions about that person seems silly to me. I dressed like a freak myself at times, and I was fully aware of the reaction people might have, which is part of the reason for doing it, of course.

As I mentioned earlier I didn't have much choice in wardrobe as a kid and I'm sure that people looked at me and said "her mom has no idea how to dress her. The clothes don't fit and they don't match, and they're obviously old. These people are poor. Does she have any idea what she looks like?" They would have been right - Poor, lack of dressing sense, and no clue what I looked like. It was only later looking at photos that I realized what my entire childhood had looked like to the outside world.

Originally Posted by flippyshark

Just posting this makes me sound a lot less fun than I really am - but it's heartfelt.

I don't think you're any less fun - you're just not on board with this new openness. I find myself stuck in the middle, to be honest. I started out with a public Twitter feed, but had to go private. I wanted to keep Facebook open but again, ended up private. Thing is, it depresses me. I want to be a part of the open party. I want my tweets to land on the main page, I want my input to be read by others. I want my photos of famous places referenced by others. I want to be a part of the global conversation. Every time I hear about some new crowdsourced capability of the internet I am bummed that I really can't be a part of it.

But I really can't be, because I work for the city. There's a topic for my next story - the growing schism between those that are open and those that can't be.

Originally Posted by flippyshark

On quite another hand, I would kind of enjoy it if we got back to elegant day to day fashion. (And this coming from an inveterate lazy dresser.) Specifically, dresses and hats. I'd love to have a gentlemanly hat to respectfully tip to others, and though I strive to be 21st century, I admit that dresses add an alluring femininity that drives me wild. I also like jackets, but I live in Florida, so, no thanks to that.

Dude, you really want women in dresses, but you're not wearing a suit? Pssh. Suits make men look awesome but I know they're hot and heavy, so I'd never require it. Just seeing everyone in nice outfits of any kind that fit and flatter would be a welcome change.