Dude, Where Are Your Pants?

“Why do they call it common sense, when it is so uncommon?”

- Fred Thompson

Recently, a family was turned away from an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the White House.  The reason: a ten year old showed up wearing only a t-shirt and shorts.

Backstory:

Vernon Baker, a recently deceased resident of Idaho, was the last surviving black Medal of Honor winner from World War II.  In the heat of battle, his white company commander reportedly deserted, and Baker rallied the troops to take a German position.

He was recommended for awards to honor his valor under fire, but was denied the Medal of Honor because of racism.  In 1997, he finally was given the award, when our government finally rectified this mistake.

This past summer, Baker passed away due to brain cancer at the age of 90, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  At some point, his family was invited to attend a private tour of the West Wing of the White House, which also includes the Oval Office.

A White House staff member turned the family away on the day of the tour when the ten year old grandson of the before mentioned war hero showed up wearing shorts.

In this case, I do not blame the child, but do wonder why his elders did not have him dressed appropriately.  This dumbed down standard of dress is a reflection on our society as a whole, and the state of our public schools.

When I was a child, my school did not allow students to wear shorts.  We did not have uniforms, and could wear blue jeans, but shorts were forbidden.  As a student, I did not like this policy, as it was uncomfortable on hot days.  However, when I hear stories like this one, where kids show up in shorts for a tour of the Oval Office, it makes me wonder if my old school teachers may have been right to expect a higher standard of dress.

Most people would have the common sense to wear some nice clothes when going behind the scenes at the White House, but we now live in a society where the Obama Administration has apologized for turning the family away on the day of the tour.  The Administration has also faced criticism for not explicitly printing a standard of dress on the invitations sent to the family.

In redefining common sense, big government apologists are saying it is now the fault of the White House staff for not explicitly telling the family how to dress their little boy.

Reference:

NY Daily News:White House apologizes for turning away Medal of Honor recipient’s family member for wearing shorts