Ironing like many other social conventions
is nothing more than remnant of something that had to be done for the sake of
hygiene and it makes no sense to keep on doing it today. The iron was used to
kill bugs that lived in the clothing. They’re not there anymore. Washing
machines, better fabrics and personal hygiene have made the iron unnecessary.
But just as we say “Jesus” each time someone sneezes, ironing your clothes has
remained as a sign of having had a good upbringing.
Here, the fact is that very few people
bother to iron.
But it is not only that. My boss at work,
turns up each day in his cycling kit ( possibly the least flattering outfit for
its wearer), and then shortly after he reappears wearing a shirt that is
halfway between one that they give you for participating in a race and those
that they give you for becoming a member
of Manos Unidas ( A Spanish NGO). Of
course, it’s un-ironed.
The cliché of the laidback Aussie is true (The
Australian surfer turtles from Finding
Nemo are obvious examples). The funny thing is not how Aussies act. No.
It’s how they do whatever they bloody well feel like. That’s the norm here and
it’s reflected in their personal grooming at work. The ones that wear shirts
are wearing them because they like wearing them. The guys that shave, I imagine
they do it because the extra facial hair annoys them (my boss has an impeccably
shaved head). Those that wear closed-toed shoes do so because they prefer them
to sandals ( another one of the bosses wears his fedora hat while he works; and
I never ever seen the hair of one of the girl here because it’s always
underneath headscarves; and unsurprisingly many of them here never wear long
pants). And some of them iron their clothes.
And it seems that the norm is that there is
no norm. They only dress in a uniform way when they go to a costume party, not
when they go to work. After all, they go to work each day and it’d take much
too much time and effort to wear clothes that they didn’t feel like wearing.
Original
Spanish Entry 