First off, as for deleting your previous comment, I initially interpreted it as confrontational instead of constructive, and I apologize if I misunderstood your intentions. This may have been amplified by the following comment (also deleted) which essentially accused me of being a fascist in response to what I considered a fairly tame remark…go figure. I am in no way for a white-washed view of any subject, and I appreciate your desire to create dialogue if that was your intention.

Now to the crux of the seeming disagreement: while I encourage individuality and freedom of dress, evidenced I think quite well in my dressing differently than the social norm, the particular instance (brunch) was one in which I felt the individuals' choices demonstrated a lack of respect for the venue and the other guests. Many of the guests dressed in the manner I found objectionable also behaved in a manner I found to be objectionable – whether this is a case of "correlation does not imply causation" is certainly up in the air, but I'm sure this had something to do with my reaction.

At the end of the day, I would obviously prefer a gentleman in a T-Shirt over a barbarian in a tie, but in this particular instance those dressed in what I consider appropriate garb for a Sunday Brunch at a nice hotel restaurant (admittedly, according to some possibly anachronistic idea of propriety), seemed to give me no reason to bat an eye, whilst those dressed in what I would consider disrespectful attire for the setting continued this perceived disrespect in their actions as well, amplifying the effect for me. T-Shirt or Suit, there is no excuse for cutting in front of a lady in line, swearing loudly in public, or treating hotel staff disrespectfully.

Condescension was certainly not, and never is, my intention, and I do honestly appreciate your desire to set the record straight here and figure this thing out. I hope this has shed some light on why I said what I said, and why although I do not mean it in the way in which it may have been interpreted, I do mean the underlying point quite strongly: respect is important and is never anachronistic, no matter how it is dressed.

-Stephen

-George L.