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Monday, August 13, 2012

Why Yes! I DO Feel More Productive!


I’m wearing a new pair of pants today.

What’s that, you say? Why yes, I find that to be true as well! New clothes do make life worth living!

As shallow and self-serving as it may sound, somehow, wearing something to work that I’ve never worn before makes my job more exciting.

Can you imagine? More excitement than I had last week! Is that possible? As if the giddiness of the day’s filing and repeated “Good morning this is Pearl how can I help you?” isn’t enough!! And now I’m doing it in a new shirt?

How in the world am I going to top this? The mind. She reels.

It’s been a fact of my corporate/office-style existence since, oh, well, let’s see. I started working right after World War I – the War to End All Wars, we called it. At first, I was content to just draw lines up the backs of my legs to simulate nylons, but I wanted more. I wanted one of those mink-biting-its-feet stoles like you saw in the talkies. I wanted my cigarettes in those long holders. I wanted to draw arches into my eyebrows that said “beat it, wise guy!”. I wanted shoulder pads that would make Joan Crawford weep.

I’m a little more subdued these days. I no longer think that knee-high moccasins are appropriate for the office. You can no longer tell what my favorite bands are from the logos on my shirts. I no longer carry changes of clothes in the back seat of my car, just in case I don’t make it home before I have to work again; and I now put on new make-up every day, even if I woke up in yesterday’s.

How's that for upwardly mobile?

This new attention to my wardrobe might explain my rocket-like rise to power in the last 80 years from dance hall girl to vaudeville crooner to receptionist/copy drudge to World’s Best Lackey. (The title is self-appointed, but I’m sure HR will back me up on this.)

Anyway, that’s all I had to say today. Just wanted to let you know that I look and feel spiffy.

Carry on!

43 comments:

Shelly said...

Now wearing a new pair of pants is a great thing to start a Monday.

As for me, I've just retired the flapper girl dresses I started wearing at the beginning of my career. The weather is just too hot for them.

CarrieBoo said...

*giggle shnarf!* I never had a car in Toronto to keep extra clothes in. Darn it. (Genius that.) Shoulder pads are one of the funniest inventions I ever saw.

raydenzel1 said...

new dress code?
now I have to wear pants?

mary i said...

Spiffy Rocks!! You made a smile:)

Simply Suthern said...

Have never doubted your "spiffyness".

Ms Scarlet said...

Oh lord... of course, pants means something different in the US... but to be honest I do get a thrill when when wearing a brand new pair of knickers as well.
Sx

Pat Tillett said...

New pants is usually better than no pants! Sometimes it takes us 70 or 80 years to find our niche...

Pat Tillett said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Pearl said...

New pants (or trousers!) and the word spiffy? Is that all it takes to make you guys happy?!

:-)

Aren't Mondays wonderful?

Elizabeth Rose Stanton said...

I am happy you are buoyed by your trousers today. May you continue to mobile upwards :)

joeh said...

Very funny, and spiffy makes me smile.

Indigo Roth said...

Stealth comment:

Fgqres gcbmnoph ih rtghf? Fputhsin!

Did you bring your decoder ring?

Ms Sparrow said...

How lovely that you can find joy in the little things, like new pants!

Unknown said...

Wearing new pants to work beats wearing none and attracts much less attention!

jenny_o said...

And if the zipper works, all the better!

Or are your new pants that zipperless type that seems to have taken over so many clothing stores? The ones that you have to squeeze into at the beginning of the day and need suspenders for by 5 o'clock?

Shelly said...

jenny_o: That made me laugh hard!

Anonymous said...

Shoulder pads you say.....fashion......you mean those buky little things that I used to rip out weren't just so the hangers wouldn't make a line on your blouses?
Darn, I was THIS closs to being in style and never knew it.

Anonymous said...

Shoulder pads you say.....fashion......you mean those buky little things that I used to rip out weren't just so the hangers wouldn't make a line on your blouses?
Darn, I was THIS closs to being in style and never knew it.

Joanne Noragon said...

You know, that was fun. Co-workers usually don't even need a noodge to recognize new attire and remark favorably, upping the spiffy meter considerably.

Geo. said...

Nothing wrong with shoulder pads, cigarette holders, or even lipstick taking lips to contours far beyond the scope of nature --and don't make me get all Joan Crawford on you. This is where my employers used to say,"You know, I think something's up with the gardener."

Jenny Woolf said...

I was waiting to see the photo .... but then it was the end of the post. Wah!

Mandy_Fish said...

This is why I feel new clothes are priceless.

Unknown said...

Spiffy?

Fiddle dee dee.

Word out on the #10 bus line is that Pearl looks hawt.

Bill Lisleman said...

by the time you read this comment the pants might be old but I hope you are still spiffy.

Hilary said...

Well spiffy sure is hard to beat. I still have that mink over at my post if ya want him. ;)

Gigi said...

So THAT'S what it takes to make Mondays bearable . . . new pants and spiffiness.

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

New clothes? They pay you enough to buy new clothes? I'm impressed!

The Cranky said...

I thought I was the only one still using spiffy!

While new slacks are nice, to really feel all fresh I need some new skivvies and Buster Browns.

Oh, and 23 skidoo too!

fmcgmccllc said...

I have the fox/minks biting their feet. I will do a fall blog about them this fall.

Jenn Jilks said...

I'm not spiffy today. Glad I can share your spiffyness!
Cheers from Cottage Country!

Cloudia said...

I cannot work in clothes. Thank goodness for sarongs and the internet!



Aloha from Honolulu
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HermanTurnip said...

I'm a typical guy who hates shopping. When I go buy clothes, I'll usually buy enough shirts and pants to keep me OUT of the stores for as long as possible.

There's just something about changing clothes in those fitting rooms that gives me the sweating heebie jeebies...

Fragrant Liar said...

And my my, how you look so young! But clothes do make the woman, I hear.

Twisted Scottish Bastard said...

I'm not allowed to buy clothes.

My Beloved says I've got the fashion sense of a dead duck, and also said that she wouldn't want to be seen in public with me if i was allowed to choose stuff for myself.

What on earth is wrong with tan cords and green boots? Especially when worn with a tartan (plaid for you poor benighted Yanks)shirt.

Austan said...

Oh new clothes always invoke spiff! New shoes, new hair iffy. But new clothes (especially when it's one of Those Perfect Things) does it every time.

Symdaddy said...

A new pair of pants, ay?

That's a little bit extravagant isn't it?

Anyway, I assume you entered into the proper negotiations with your legs prior to you purchasing said new pants!

The consequences of a leg strike could be disastrous!

Anonymous said...

Spiffy is good. Stay spiffy :)

Lynn said...

Sometimes being spiffy is all you need. :)

Dawn@Lighten Up! said...

Hey, love, is that a new shirt? You look so spiffy as your perform your lackey duties.

Anonymous said...

"I no longer think that knee-high moccasins are appropriate for the office. You can no longer tell what my favorite bands are from the logos on my shirts. I no longer carry changes of clothes in the back seat of my car..."

That's when I realized I had finally embraced adulthood. It happened years after I turned 18, but whatever. I do things at my own slow pace.

River said...

New clothes certainly do put a shine on your day.

the walking man said...

Spif is good. I feel exactly the same way on those occasions when I wear undershorts.

dannielo said...

I would recommend checking out http://www.Gtdagenda.com for an online productivity tool.

You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, and a calendar.
Syncs with Evernote, and also comes with mobile-web version, and Android and iPhone apps.