Jul

26

IAO 8 - On Collars and Cravats

July 26, 2007 |

In order to appreciate where I’m coming from on this day’s IAO some more background information about me is necessary. I made aliyah in 1998 when I was 23. Since I was 12 years old, I have had to work to earn spending/living money. You see, my parents never really gave me an allowance. Instead they instilled a very strong work ethic which was reinforced by basically matching or exceeding any amount of money that I would spend on something important. For example, if I wanted a new bike, I would work to earn $50 to which my Mom would add $50-60 and I could buy the bike I wanted. Now that I have children of my own, I think that I would like to try to do the same thing for them as they grow up. What I learned from this was that even though I had to work to earn the things that I wanted, my parents were always there to help me achieve my goals. Reassuring, but not relieving me of my responsibilities. So, starting at age 12, I’ve worked at the following jobs in the US:

  • A babysitter
  • A lifeguard
  • A busboy
  • A waiter
  • A cleaning engineer (janitor)
  • A shoe salesman
  • A computer salesman
  • A computer instructor
  • A computer installer
  • A desktop publisher
  • A graphic designer

With the exception of being a babysitter and, of course, a lifeguard, at all these jobs, I had to wear a tie. Even when I was a janitor, I had to wear a disgusting green bowtie. Granted it wasn’t hard to get dressed in the morning, I only had one pair of pants that matched the Ugly Green Bowtie, but it was very uncomfortable and very ugly.

I hate wearing ties. I have a fairly wide neck and I hate having to button my top button and hate even more having to tie a piece of cloth around it and pull it tight. All that background information leads me to today’s IAO:

Never Having to Wear a Necktie

colorful ties

This one pretty much speaks for itself. But since this is a blog and not a newspaper headline, I will simply say that with very very few exceptions, NOBODY in Israel wears a tie. Not at work, not in shul, not at weddings, not at bar mitzvahs, and not even in the government! It just isn’t done. Perhaps it is the heat. Perhaps it is the resistance to authority symbols. Perhaps it is simply that finding a tie to match those stupid Israeli tourist hats (here known as a “kovah tembel” or “a**hole hat”) is very difficult. Whatever the reason, ties and Israel just don’t mix.

And I am very very grateful.

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