PHOTO: is self-explanatory
A moment of introspection:
Why is it that I can appreciate shirts with French cuffs, and love a nice pair of cufflinks, but find it distasteful when provincial election candidates wear them?
Perhaps it's because it represents a disconnect between the people and their representatives. I doubt there were any French cuffs in the audience at the Lakeview debate tonight. They were on display at the front of the room, though. The cuffs were fastened with a beautiful pair of what appeared to be square, brushed-metal cufflinks. I won't say who was wearing them because it doesn't matter, but, as I mentioned, I found it distasteful.
Is that a fair assessment, though? Is it fair to expect the men running to represent Mississauga South to dress in a similar fashion as those who will elect one of them? I don't think it is. If that was the case, after all, the candidates would be wearing ill-fitting khakis and hiking boots.
The candidates still have to wear suits, but perhaps they shouldn't dress them up. Unfortunately, this goes against what I believe in. I think people should dress as well as they can. If they can afford beautiful cufflinks, wear them. If they can afford nice suits, wear them. You dress for other people, because people like being around attractive, nicely dressed people. It is a nice thing to do for people. And if someone is representing you at Queen's Park, you want them to look good, because they're a reflection of your community, and you want people to think your community is attractive and doing well and can pull off a nice pair of cufflinks, even if you, in fact, wear ill-fitting khakis and hiking boots on a daily basis.
In other words, let them wear cuff links, and let us wear cuff links. Maybe instead of disliking the candidates because they are ostentatious perhaps I should dislike the voters for being so modest and unimaginative. Let us all strive to be better looking and more put together. Bury the hiking boots in the back of the closet until you actually go hiking, and remember that there's never been a person, other than perhaps James Dean, who looks good in khakis.