(no subject)

[ysobel]

From the Carolyn Hax chat:

Should I comment on altered appearance?

A technician who has serviced out HVAC system for 15 years came today. He was wearing hoop earrings, mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow and lipstick. My first thought was "that's a little dramatic for daytime wear." I know that he is married and has adult children. I didn't comment on his transformation. He'll be back in six months -- should I say something then?


Carolyn Hax

"That's a great color on you." (Translation: You're safe here.) Otherwise, no.

[isa comment: I love CH's reply, no notes! but am eyebrowing hard at the LW, especially for "dramatic" and the relevance of marriage/kids]

Comments

[cimorene]

I just can't imagine how annoying it is for lw to spend lots of time around women if they have strong opinions about how much makeup and jewelry constitute overdressed, because I mean, statistically, you're going to find a lot more of them in that demographic.

[cimorene]

Oh and also, if you're curious and think they might have dressed up, as opposed to just assuming they have started a new habit of dressing up all the time... you can say something like "You look fancy! Are you going somewhere special?"

[laurajv]

tbh I assumed LW _was_ a woman, because the percentage of men who know and can tell the difference between mascara and eyeliner is so much smaller than the percentage of women, so noticing that the HVAC tech had both on would be much more unusual from a man than from a woman.

[cimorene]

Same. There's no other clue in the letter, but it seems most likely.