[t18]

Now we have two police stations at our place. One is old and the other is a new one. I visited the old place to enquire about my passport verificaition. I entered the station in my shorts, walked straight in filled up the register manned by a cop. He guided my to the respective cabin. Their another cop redirected me to the new station as my area falls under the new one. I went to this new station, a lady constable was at the reception area asked me the reason for my visit and guided me to the cabin. The cop there after seeing me catches hold of my arm leads me out of the station and asks me to wait outside. He then shouts at the lady constable for allowing me in, in SHORTS. Comes out tells me what all documents I need to bring and asks me to wear full pants the next time. Thats it.

I think these public offices have their own set of rules and regulations depending on the mood of the officer.

[Raghav_K]

I find the policeman's attitude disgraceful, but that's the case with most Government officials & offices.

However, i would say it's not right to visit a Police station in Casual clothes.

Every advisory for foreign travelers to India states that they should respect the local dress codes. ( But India, as such, does not have any specific dress code for most occasions. So the travelers dress conservatively, for most parts. )

Why would you go to a Police Station in Shorts? That too in TN .

I once went to a State bank branch near my house, and the old cashier there kept replying back in broken English, even though i was talking to him in Tamil. I queried him why, and he was like, you came to bank in old jeans and t-shirt, your Tamil is also not good , so i thought you were a North Indian.

So i play it safe and make it a point to visit all Government office & Officials, only in Formals.

P.S: Someone mentioned about having to remove footwear before entering Courts & Police Stations, that's never happened to me before.

[sdp1975]

Why only blame public officials ?

Private companies have dress code policies that make no sense. You need to wear formals , with ties , in the sweltering heat - and I'm talking of employees having NIL customer interaction. Some companies even fine their employees for violations of the dress code.

I've also seen employees asked to return home for wearing shorts, or even wearing a T-shirt of another company.

[jkrishnakj]

I clearly feel that its not appropriate to be visiting govt office in shorts. Now, how many corporates allow shorts to office. There could be a few , no doubts, but 99% + of corporates have a dress code that has to be followed, and all for the right reasons.

Imagine walking into a doctors clinic, and you see one person with some bright floral sleeve less shirt, tatooed arms and shoulders, gelled hair waving upwards, funky glasses, ear phones plugged in to some loud music and wearing some nice bright coloured shorts - ? Would we be able to accept that person as a doctor and ask remedies? Dress codes are defined in certain places, and there are places, like a police station, where we have to follow something that isnt offensive to the people working there.

We take caution to make sure our attire is good when visiting a bar or a pub, but then, we have a problem when someone at the police station have issues.

Having said that, i dont think the police have rights to yell - going back to the OP, and there are different means of still giving the same message though.

Just my two cents here.

[rnidumolu]

For me, the police person's intention was right but not the way it was expressed.

I was taught in my childhood that one should have respect towards the work place(be it yours or others) and our attire is the representation of the same.

Why wont we attend marriages or parties in shorts or 3/4ths? They are the leisure places and logically we can wear them. But no, we don't do that. We will dress up well (in fact very well to our best).

Can't we have the some courtesy extended to the work place of others too and go in a formal dress?

How we feel if any of your customer comes to a meeting in shorts? We say he is not professional. Likewise the others also feel. Some will express and some talk on our backs.

I had this experience once I have visited a hospital for my kid. One gentleman in his mid 40s, came along with his kids to visit the doctors in his shorts. His attire was so bad for his figure, but he dared appeared in public place in that. What is the message he is giving to his children?

I read somewhere that "Vaidyo narayano hari". Means, the doctor is a representative of god and one should have the respect to doctors.

I am sorry for not encouraging most of others here.

[Fillmore]

Well if there is a board that states a dress code required to enter a Police Station then the police personnel is justified. But in the absence of any such displayed guideline he cannot make up rules on the fly and abuse people.

Bottom line is there is no logic around many of these things, right of admission can be laid down by the owning institution.

A few examples that you see around
- Pubs have rules that you cannot enter without shoes
- Doctors make rules that you have to leave your footwear outside, though the doctor can walk in with his shoes on.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Private companies have dress code policies that make no sense. You need to wear formals, with ties, in the sweltering heat - and I'm talking of employees having NIL customer interaction.

An organisation in our office complex has the tie rule and everytime I see their employees, my heart goes out to them.

Originally Posted by Fillmore

- Pubs have rules that you cannot enter without shoes

Anyone knows the logic behind this ? Have always wondered...
Yesterday a few friends got together and one of them wanted to visit 10DowningStreet (pub). But he had come down on vacation from the US and was dressed in Tee/shorts/sandals as would be logical for the weather in Chennai. We called up and were told that shoes and trousers are a must for entry. So had to settle for another one.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

An organisation in our office complex has the tie rule and everytime I see their employees, my heart goes out to them.



Anyone knows the logic behind this ? Have always wondered...

Yesterday a few friends got together and one of them wanted to visit 10DowningStreet (pub). But he had come down on vacation from the US and was dressed in Tee/shorts/sandals as would be logical for the weather in Chennai. We called up and were told that shoes and trousers are a must for entry. So had to settle for another one.

On the shoes in the pub, I can only assume that they want you to wear them so your feet are protected from any broken glass on the floor.

I used to be in the merchant navy, some companies had uniform policies. Never understood why I should wear an uniform in the middle of the ocean on a 500 meter tanker with only15 collegueas. Its not as if you keep running into one another. We even had to wear uniforms at naval college as well. So, i quickly signed up with shipping companies with no uniform policies.

Jeroen

[Samurai]

This thread has started to sound like the dress code thread. So let me quote what I wrote there once:

Originally Posted by Samurai

If everybody had good dress sense, you don't need a dress code. But in our country, guys generally don't have any dress sense. Girls generally have a very good dress sense by the age of 15. But guys go without it for lot longer, sometimes all their life. Even I discovered dress sense in the mid 20s, my wife still doesn't think I have enough.

Therefore, basic dress code needs to be enforced by companies & institution in India so that guys don't show up to work in underwear/shorts or slippers. Otherwise people show up at work like slobs.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Why only blame public officials ?

Private companies have dress code policies that make no sense. You need to wear formals , with ties , in the sweltering heat - and I'm talking of employees having NIL customer interaction. Some companies even fine their employees for violations of the dress code.

I've also seen employees asked to return home for wearing shorts, or even wearing a T-shirt of another company.

I am yet to see a private company where a client is turned away for wearing shorts. Since you have seen such a company, please let me know.

Also please let me know, where a CEO can be turned away by a low level employee for wearing shorts.

Since its a public office, you are the CEO and the public servant is your employee, after all you pay the salary. His job is to serve you. If he wants to lecture he should become a lecturer

[sdp1975]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I am yet to see a private company where a client is turned away for wearing shorts. Since you have seen such a company, please let me know.

Also please let me know, where a CEO can be turned away by a low level employee for wearing shorts.

Since its a public office, you are the CEO and the public servant is your employee, after all you pay the salary. His job is to serve you. If he wants to lecture he should become a lecturer

I wrote that 'employees' are turned away for wearing shorts - not 'clients'.

This thread was mostly about public officials, but my point was that anyone in a position of perceived authority or power would do so - be it a public official or in a private company.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Also please let me know, where a CEO can be turned away by a low level employee for wearing shorts.

Well, once our company receptionist/HR questioned me for showing up in a T-Shirt on Monday, which is the day reserved for formals. Since it was a solid color Golf shirt, I could argue my way out saying they are considered formal. They do look like formals.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I am yet to see a private company where a client is turned away for wearing shorts. Since you have seen such a company, please let me know.

Also please let me know, where a CEO can be turned away by a low level employee for wearing shorts.

Since its a public office, you are the CEO and the public servant is your employee, after all you pay the salary. His job is to serve you. If he wants to lecture he should become a lecturer

Spot on. Its not their business to comment on your clothes. You can wear the most formal bespoke tailored suit and yet be disrespectful to the policeman. As long as one is being nice and polite, it is not their goddamned problem.

Though yes, if you are going for passport verification (where they have 100x the nuisance value), it doesn't matter - please them and pander to their ego. That's a primary perk of their job, you know.

Speaking of which, in Gurgaon they don't bother with you wearing shorts or not. Because they are interested in the bribes, they couldn't care less about what you wear!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Because they are interested in the bribes, they couldn't care less about what you wear!

I guess the dress code in Gurgaon is "You must"

[Samurai]

I grew up in rural Karnataka before moving to Bangalore in my teens. In the 70-80s, you could see only one type of short worn by adults in rural area, the striped underwear. Basically, I don't remember adults wear shorts in public, unless it was poor villagers in underwear. Only after coming to Bangalore in the early 80s I saw sports shorts or casual shorts worn by adults.

Lots of police personnel come from rural background, and they may have similar thoughts about shorts. As a result, they might feel that the visitor to the police station is in his underwear.

How else can we interpret their disgust with shorts?