1/3/2018 11:22:08 AM
Anything Goes
Posted under: Christmastide 2017
The year 2018 has commenced. It may take a couple of days or so to remember that when writing checks or a letter or a thank-you note. That is, if you still do those three quaint things. For quite a great number of people debit cards and e-mail have pretty much replaced writing checks and letters. As to thank-you notes, it is absolutely necessary to write them and mail them and to do it in a timely manner. Courtesy demands it. However, I'm not sure we still adhere to tradition concerning thank-yous or dress codes or common courtesy. I attended a wedding this past week and the invitation read "semi-formal attire." To me that meant I should be wearing a dark suit and a white shirt with a tie that didn't blind those who would see me dancing with my wife. She would be wearing a dress; not a skirt or a pant suit. Semi-formal. That means attire just short of a tuxedo and a gown. Or have I become too old, too soon for this generation? You might imagine I noticed very un-semi-formal attire at the above mentioned wedding. I kept my mouth shut. I said not a word to my wife nor to any of my family. I may have sighed heavily a time or two, but I did not embarrass myself. Apparently, we've moved to a new permissiveness about wedding attire and funeral attire for that matter. To quote Cole Porter, "Anything Goes." As the Year of Our Lord 2018 moves inexorably along, I intend to revel in its blessings and keep my semi-formal attire at the ready.