Megafishbein

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My Dress Is Too Short?

My dress is too short? Well now I look like my dad and everyone else can too. 

Years ago in the 90s I worked at a hell hole of a call center. It was my first "office" job and I tried really hard to be professional. What I didn't know was that a call center is basically the same as a restaurant. Everyone was sleeping with each other, on drugs/alcohol, and the managers were idiots. 

There was a guy who worked in a different pod who was always hitting on me. I was not interested. I did my job and went home and didn't socialize. I didn't even eat lunch in the break room because I lived about 5 min away. Well there was a manager who had been sleeping with the guy and thought I was coming between them. She would make up excuses to harass me - I wasn't taking enough calls, I didn't clock in and out of the system exactly on the minute, etc. 

One day, she really went off the rails and started publicly shaming my outfit. I had on a dress and cardigan which she insisted was too revealing. It was to my knees and I had on pantyhose. She wrote me up and sent me home to change. I was really upset and started digging through my closet looking for something she couldn't pick apart. 

Then inspiration struck. My dad is a textbook accountant. Khakis, short sleeved button ups, and ties. So I borrowed an outfit from him - I was swimming in it, you couldn't see a single curve. I went back to work and headed straight for my desk. Don't you know, the manager spotted me and made a bee line directly for me. She pulled me into HR complaining that I looked unprofessional. I told HR that this is what my dad wore every day and he is a consummate professional. HR agreed that my outfit was acceptable but the manager wouldn't let it go. The dress code was gender specific and she argued that I wasn't dressed like a woman. I ended up just going home for the day rather than deal with it anymore. 

A few days later, the dress code policy had been updated with vague language about "looking professional" and didn't even give examples of what was appropriate. The memo was posted in several places. This meant that EVERYONE in the call center could now basically wear whatever they liked as long as it wasn't ripped jeans or a tube top. The manager was fuming because HR had taken away one of the things she could lord over people. I didn't last much longer there but hopefully, no one ever changed the dress code back.