Have you ever been thrown out of a tailor shop? I have; but it wasn’t my fault…
In 1981 I was stationed at Canberra, Australia – as a Flight Safety Officer for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF.) That summer I had the opportunity to travel to RAAF bases in Malaysia and Singapore – to ‘observe RAAF operations in the tropics.’ Worked for me! In addition, the RAAF put Sue on orders so she could accompany me. How cool was that?
Anyway, part of the deal was, I was given a $200 clothing allowance since I was traveling to a tropical region in the dead of the Australian winter. Well, okay. The only caveat was, I had to show where I bought clothes within the first week or so upon arrival in the tropics. Not a problem.
So this one morning I found myself in this upscale Indian tailor’s shop in Singapore. As was the custom, beer was provided while shopping. Well, okay.
I soon found a nice British woolen fabric that I thought would look nice on me. Charcoal grey with thin pinstripes. Very conservative in nature. And I really liked the feel of the material. After all the measurements were taken, and a ‘few’ more beers, I was asked if I had any other requests. Well, since he mentioned it; yes, I did. I asked him if he could orient the pinstripes horizontally, vs. vertically when he built the suit!
At first, when he thought I was joking, he laughed right along with me. Then when he figured out I was serious, he took away my beer, and threw me out of his shop! Absolutely no sense of humor!
Once you get over the initial “chuckle” here, think for a moment about how much fun a suit like that could have been at some “stuff shirt, mandatory-fun” party we are all called upon to attend upon occasion. And to wear such a suit as if there was nothing “wrong!” I think I could have sent a few folks into a serious case of the vapors with it. But no – I was tossed out of his shop!
And not my fault? Oh no, it was the beer the tailor gave me! LOL…