Dressing for the Dentist. . .

This morning's shoe and sock combination. Loafers are Allen Edmonds, and the socks are cotton trefoil numbers from the wonderful Dapper Classics, which recently celebrated its second year in business.

I returned home an hour or so ago from a 90-minute session with the dentist, which resulted only in his telling me that the crown ordered a month ago and scheduled for installation today did not quite fit properly.   The new crown will not be back from the lab that manufactures these for another four weeks.

Sigh. It's times like these when dressing nicely for oneself, even for something as mundane as an early morning dental appointment, helps one come to terms with wasting time and waking up far too early. So, what did ol' Heinz-Ulrich have on this morning?

Things were pretty casual really. Besides the shoes and socks pictured above, I wore a pair of very light Dove Gray dress chinos from Land's End that I've had for a long time, a summer weight navy wool blazer, and a pink and white striped OCBD shirt in a fairly light weight by Ralph Lauren, which joined the wardrobe last fall. No pocket square though, something that was purely an oversight, but maybe it's better not to get too dandy for a visit to the dentist or doctor. Right?

One thing about looking pulled together for these kinds of appointments. And I've mentioned it before here at The Average Guy's Guide to Classic Style. Looking nice (re: NOT sweatpants and an untucked golf shirt with baseball cap and over-sized white "dad sneakers") seems to cure receptionists, hygienists, dentists, nurses, and doctors of that patronizing -- and intensely annoying -- tone that seems to be rampant in the healthcare industry here in the United States at least.

You know what I mean. When healthcare professionals automatically call you by your first name and speak to you with an overly loud voice as though you are an idiot five-year old who does not understand the most basic English. GOOD MORNING BOBBY! HOW ARE YOU TODAY? NOW, THIS BIG POPSICLE STICK IS REALLY CALLED A TONGUE DEPRESSOR, AND I NEED YOU TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH REALLY WIDE. OK? THAT'S A GOOD BOY. It's almost enough to provoke physical violence when someone in pajamas -- oh, excuse me -- surgical scrubs with cute little bunnies and shooting stars all over them speaks to you like that. Know what I mean?

Anyway, it's far better to show up the to the office or clinic looking like you deserve a little respect and consideration, which means that you ought to go looking pulled together. . . instead of like you are taking a sweaty beer break from mowing and raking grass clippings in the backyard on a hot day. Besides, you deserve to be spoken to as Mr./Ms./Mrs. by people who do not know you. At least until you until you invite them to call you by your first name. Over-familiarity and false bonhomie are two of the many things wrong with public life in 2014. But I digress.

So, soften those godawful early morning appointments, and give yourself a small reward for rising before the sun, by dressing a bit better than might be required. You'll feel a tiny better about yourself and the world as you start your day. And isn't that worth the extra few minutes it might take to match your shoes and belt and tuck in your shirt properly?

--Heinz-Ulrich

Up North Style. . .

Bad Dad makes a friend. YMP and Bad Dad on the shores of Lake Michigan. Or was that Crystal Lake? The Grand Duchess takes a selfie in her kayak. How NOT to impress the girls sunning themselves along the river. YMP and Bad Dad kayaking on the Platte River headed toward Loon Lake. J ust back from a week in Northern Michigan in a charming and spacious house on the banks of the Betsie River outside of Thompsonville. A largely pleasant seven days despite some challenging episodes with the Young Master, who has picked up some very questionable habits and language from his friends in the 8th Grade during the school year just ended. But otherwise, we enjoyed ourselves and contemplated remaining for a few days longer since the house was available. In the end, we decided to return home as planned originally since neither my wife, nor I wanted to spend the remaining days chained to our computers in Zoom meetings from our vacation destination. I actually managed to leave the laptop and ip

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 1970s, aka The Stone Age. As it is, my sister and

AnonymousJuly 14, 2014 at 7:57 PM
Heinz,

You are absolutely right (again). We should never prejudge anyone, but it is hard to have the utmost respect for someone when it appears they don't respect themselves.

It is very refreshing to see a well dressed and groomed patient. I can tell you my treatment of patients is the same ("do no harm") but a well dressed person is usually a more interesting person and usually a joy to see.

Just a thought,
DrCSP
guyJuly 18, 2014 at 3:21 AM
A client has just been to see me wearing a sleeveless t-shirt exposing his arm pits and hairy back, saggy shorts and flip flops. Quality. I realise its Friday but there is a limit to dress down.

Back to dentists. My Dentist is from South Africa. A no nonsense, plain speaking, ex-military character. No patronising rubbish. Both he and his wife (the receptionist) calls me Mr... or sir. He's more than happy to talk geopolitics, economics and military stuff such as the Zulu wars. In fact we are being over run with SA expats at the moment. My chiropractor is a young SA girl but I have to be nice to her or she has the potential to seriously hurt me.

I have no problem with all these SA who are law abiding and work hard. I draw the line though at one man who I met recently. He still called himself a Rhodesian from which you can deduce his attitude on many issues. For the first time ever I started to feel some sympathy for President Mugabe.

regards,
Guy
BloggeratorJuly 21, 2014 at 11:05 PM
I myself had always thought a raincoat appropriate for a visit to the dentist.

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