DRESS CODE

I walked into the house and dropped a giant bag, from a local department store, onto the chair by the front door.

My husband Steven came into the room. “You went shopping after work?” He asked as he peeked into the top of the bag.

“Yup.” I dropped my purse next to the bag. “I had to.”

Steven looked confused. “You had to?”

“We have a dress code at work now.” I pointed down to my pants. “No more blue jeans.”

“Wow!” Steven looked surprised. “But that’s all you ever wear.”

“Tell me about it.” I laughed. “Jeans were my uniform. I must have a dozen pairs of jeans hanging in my closet.” I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. “But now that we have a new boss there’s going to be new rules.” I pointed to my pants again. “And these are out.”

“Well, you could always look on the bright side.”

“What’s that?” I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Steven followed me. “Now you can get all new outfits.”

I held the glass under the tap, filling it with water. “You know I hate clothes shopping!”

Steven pointed to the living room. “But it looks like you already started.”

“Oh, I’m actually finished.” Turning off the tap I took a sip of water, put the glass on the counter top, and headed back to the living room. I pulled several pairs of pants from the bag. “Eight pairs of pants.” I tossed them on the back of the chair. “Done!”

Steven looked at the pants draped over the chair. “But they’re all black.”

“I know.” I smiled. “Wait, I think I got one pair that’s kind of blue.” I sorted through the pile and pulled out a pair of pants. “See, dark blue.”

“It almost looks black.” Steven corrected me.

“Perfect!” I tossed the pants back on the pile. “I have to admit, when we were first told about the dress code I was upset.”

“I bet.”

“Not because we were given a dress code but because of the shopping.” I waved my hand over the pants. “But now that I have all of these, I’m all set.”

Our son Alex came into the room and looked at the chair. “Wow! That’s a lot of pants.”

“They have a dress code at work and I can’t wear blue jeans anymore.”

Alex looked confused. “So the dress code is black pants only?”

I had to laugh. “No, but my blue jeans were so easy. It was like a uniform. I didn’t have to think about putting together outfits. So…” I waved my hand across the pile of pants. “Meet my new uniform!”

Alex looked over at Steven.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, as long as she’s happy we’re happy. Right?”

Alex nodded his head. “I’m glad you like your new uniform.”

“Thanks.” I scooped the pants up into my arms. “Now I need to go hang these babies up and get ready for a new school year!”