Last night I dreamed I was in college. On my way into a class, I noticed that the Geography dept had arranged for a dinner for its students in the class just after the one I was going to. There were four lines to get in, each prominently labeled with a type of dress code (bare belly/wide pants; sweatsuit, etc.) and apparent;y certain types of dress weren’t going to be allowed entrance.

This bothered me, so I stayed after class and just hung out as the auditorium filled. There were four ladies who were in charge of this affair — each dressed in upscale business attire. Once things got started, I raised my hand and asked about the dress code. “Oh, our students needed to be given a little help to dress appropriately for the Real World” I was told. How much notice were they given, I asked? No real answer: clearly the ‘right’ people didn’t need to be warned, and the others didn’t get the free meal. I said that. “Excuse me, but aren’t you inappropriately dressed?” I was asked.

I looked down at my loose shorts and slightly stretched t-shirt; sandals on my feet. I shrugged, “I’m here, aren’t I?” One of the women made a disparaging noise and asked the rest of the class about me. A few people spoke in praise of me — which was particularly nice since I didn’t know them. She tried once more to shame me by mocking, but it just made the class turn against her.

Point made, I made my way to the front and thanked her; I had another class to get to.