When Progress Failed

Progress. It's what we do.  The human race is constantly moving forward, searching, discovering, bettering and becoming.  We have progressed in every area of the human experience.  And it seems that the more we progress, the faster we progress, and it becomes an unstoppable force...a tidal wave we can't control.  And why would we?  Here's the problem with progress...we need to learn to stop once we have reached perfection in a given area.  We have obviously not learned this lesson.  Case in point...fashion.

Years ago, we achieved perfection in the area of clothing.  We made something that was completely comfortable, soft, looked good on every body type and, depending on the fabric used, it could be worn in summer or winter.  It was the pajama.  The perfect pajama.  But noooo, we just had to keep going.  And look where fashion took us after the pj was sequestered to nighttime only...mini skirts (no one can pretend those are comfortable), high heels (not only treacherous to walk in, but literally unhealthy), tight-fitting blouses (yeh, no worries there....).  What about the poor guys?  They got suits (nothing like being in a straight-jacket all day) and ties (obviously invented by some women after discovering their men were having affairs..."Here honey, wear this.  It's all the rage.  You'll look dashing."  Laughed all night long, she did).  I think you get the point.  We should have stopped while we were ahead.

Actually, a small group of professionals did just that.  They looked at the rest of us following the trends and they said, "No thanks.  We'll stick with our pjs."  They proceeded to make their pjs/work clothes out of soft, comfortable fabric that was easy to wash and wear.  And did we laugh at them?  No!  We have complete respect for them!  They are noted as some of the most intelligent people on the planet.  They are our medical professionals.  They are the ones whose advice we ask, and when they give it, we follow it exactly.  When they walk in a cafe in their pjs ("scrubs" as they like to call them), we treat them with respect.  We are apt to smile at them and even give them our place in line.  They are brilliant!  They are game-changers!  They are lifesavers!  And they know what clothing makes sense.

There are other groups of people who wear pjs.  One group in particular may not be the smartest among us, but they are the gifted ones.  This group of people is so talented, they earn millions a year... our professional athletes.  And what do these wealthy people, who can afford to buy any clothing, like to wear?  Pjs.  They make their pjs out of soft, flexible, breathable fabric in their team's colors.  When they walk into a restaurant wearing their pjs/ warm-ups, do we make fun of them?  No, we go ask for their autograph.

I could go on, but I think you've got the point.  We really need to rethink this.  Progress has failed us.  It's not hard to see where we went wrong or what we need to do to fix it.  But who will be the one to lead us?  Who will stand up and say, "It's time to wear our pjs!"