Subscribe by Email!
Other Stuff
The Blogosphere
Dress Code Change. Shorts are OK!
January 27th, 2009
Last year, I was visiting an inmate err friend at the Costa Rica nacional funny farm err Psychiatric Hospital. I drove up to the gate and requested entry, but the guard told me I could not enter because I was wearing shorts. I thought he was joking… but no. It was a rule. Needless to say I was more than a bit torqued at this. I said nothing as too many times foreigners (read that as Gringos) act in a manner that 1. makes us look like a bunch of arrogant buttheads and 2 one seldom wins these battles.
I went back home, changed into long pants, and returned. They let me in.
In and around San Jose, shorts are common daily wear for many North Americans and in the past few years, I see more and more Ticos in shorts. Some years ago, that was hardly ever seen. Ticos eschewed short pants, but the culture is changing. Shorts at the beaches are common, of course, for everyone.
Anyway… I asked my wife about this at dinner and sure enough… many government buildings do not permit folks to enter unless properly dressed. In this case, the shorts were a no-no and I discovered that they are not permitted in many other locations as well. I added this tidbit to my knowledge base and moved on. I even added it as one of the Odds and Ends in The REAL Costa Rica web site.
Well someone (in this case a Tico), did not take kindly to being refused entry to the Registro Nacional, the location where just about all records (real estate, corporations, etc) are maintained. The difference is that, being a Tico, he filed a complaint with Sala IV, the Costa Rica constitutional court…. and he won!
Sala IV made it very clear that people can pretty much dress any way they please when visiting government buildings. This ruling does not apply to private businesses of course. They can still set their own rules.
Filed under Beaches, Costa Rica, Culture, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica | Comments (16)16 Responses to “Dress Code Change. Shorts are OK!”
Reminds me of something like 10 years ago, when schools had set regulations on allowable length of hair, use of jewlery, and so forth. Eventually it made its way up to the courts and the regulations had to be dropped.
Although you have to wonder, at what point a cigar stops being a cigar. Under the court ruling a public office is now basically incapable of enforcing regulations out of consideration for “most of the public”. So, what happens to “most of the public”‘s right to not be offended by those few specimens that have absolutely no sense of coherence, hygene or style in their dress code?
Nice web site (blog) you have Mario…
Not sure about most of the public. What I do know is that I hope and prey that CR does not follow the lead of the US in controlling people’s lives. Obviously, there has to be limits and I am sure there are those who will push those limits. As for me… leave people alone. But I am just a visitor, albeit permanently… just my thoughts.
Speaking about funny farms…the words of an old song come to mind…sometimes I’m not sure if it’ll be me or my wife that will join them first… 🙂
They’re coming to take me away, HA HA
They’re coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I’ll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they’re coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
I’m all for comfort…when we were living on Maui…shorts and an aloha shirt was standard wear…although there’s place’s where it would have been out of line and we dressed accordingly…just old school I suppose.
We, as Gringos have become very lax as “anything goes”. Being lazy Americans makes us appear as if we do not subscribe to any code of conduct or appearance. In the USA many years ago, a man would not leave the house without his hat (this is why the military, I am sure still requires servicemen to have proper headdress). If the rule said no shorts, I, personally would say that if that were the rule, I have two choices: comply or leave.
Just my humble opinion.
Thank you,
JC
Interesting. For 10 years, I have always arrived wearing slacks and buttoned shirt so as not to offend anyone with my Gringo-ness (although I am a white African). Never would I dare wear a T-shirt or shorts while in San Jose. But as soon as I clear the city limits on my way to my home in Dominical, I pull over and change to beach attire. Did the same on the return trip. But even knowing that the rules are relaxed, I am sure that I will continue the practice. Even though the rules may have changed, the culture will remain intact for years to come.
hello, is there still a way to email you? my email using the link you provided has received failure notices…
You should have your reply by now. You got caught in the SPAM trap.