I witnessed a man wearing pajama bottoms in the grocery store yesterday. Actual flannel pajamas with cartoon characters dancing across the fabric. This was not the first time, nor will it be the last time. In fact it's a common scene. Still, I wept for civilization.

The scene was a Meijer on a Tuesday afternoon. A grown man, perhaps forty years of age, shuffling through the produce section in bedtime attire. He was selecting avocados while dressed as though he'd just rolled out of bed, which, given the state of his hair, he likely had. This wasn't an emergency trip for medicine at 2 AM. This was broad daylight. The man was purchasing a week's worth of groceries while wearing what his grandmother bought him for Christmas.

Two generations ago, a man wouldn't dream of answering his own front door in such a state, let alone venturing into public commerce. My grandfather wore a pressed shirt to check the mail. He wore slacks to mow the lawn. My father wouldn't have left the house without jeans on at least. This was simply what men did. Men have always before maintained standards because standards maintained society.

But now, we have confused comfort with civilization. We decided that because we can wear pajamas to the store, we should. We've weaponized casualness, turning it into a philosophy. The result? A nation of grown adults treating every public space like an extension of their living room, dressed as though getting dressed is somehow an imposition on their freedom.

I know what you're thinking: "Who cares what people wear to the grocery store?" Everyone should care. When we abandon even the most basic standards of presentation, we signal to each other that nothing matters, that no occasion is worth the effort, that respect is oppressive rather than civilized. We become a nation of overgrown children who can't be bothered to put on pants.

The plague has spread beyond groceries. I've seen pajamas on airplanes, in restaurants, at the bank. We've surrendered, collectively, to the tyranny of comfort. And make no mistake, it is tyranny. Because once the standard falls, it takes the rest of us with it. Wearing a tie to a casual Friday office and watch the discomfort. Still do it, but the slobs have won for now.

Perhaps we deserve what's coming. A society that can't muster the dignity to put on proper trousers for public excursions is a society announcing its own decline. Rome fell for many reasons, but I'm certain that somewhere in the final days, a Senator showed up to the Forum in his bedclothes.

I'm buying another suit out of spite.

---

Join The Parlor Club—where standards still matter. theparlorclub.com