All Dressed Up
I think anytime you feel compelled to use the words “the good old days,” it implies you must be, at the very least, feeling older. So, at the risk of sounding old, there is one thing I really miss about the “good old days.” My parents would be completely shocked to hear me admit it for all the complaining about it I did about it when I was younger. Believe me, I would complain again if I had to do it all the time. But I really do believe it is worth the effort to do it every once in a while.
I really miss people getting dressed up. In an age when there always seems to be a contest to see how much skin you can show or it’s fashionable to have your underwear hanging out your pants, old fashion style is hard to find. When people used to get dressed up, you could always hear someone saying, “You clean up well.” I can’t remember the last time I heard that expression.
I used to have an inside sales job selling doors and windows. The guys used to have to wear ties to work. We were greatly relieved when they started “Casual Fridays.” You still wore the same outfit on Casual Friday, but you didn’t have to wear the tie. I can remember my son buying me “special” ties for Father’s Day and my birthday. I had a whole collection of ties until I donated them to charity many years ago.
I remember when I was a little boy going to church and my Mother made me wear a tie. You can bet as soon as I hit the door to leave church, that tie came off.
So what is it about dressing up that I miss exactly? Sounds like it wasn’t that much fun. I think what I miss the most is everyone looked special and everyone looked better. Even those hunky men and beautiful babes seem to add to their beauty in those dressed up moments. It wasn’t about showing everything or even highlighting what a unique creature you were. A group of dressed up people seemed to fit together like a beautiful picture instead of each individual part trying to stand out on its own. Dressing up knew no barriers. Young or old, rich or poor, fat or skinny, short or tall, black or white, it made no difference. You were part of the group and boy, did that group look good.
He had a really hard time fitting in. He tried to be the team player, but boy, were they making that hard to do. It’s always hard to play the straight man in a routine and that is exactly what they wanted him to do. It seems like his every misstep would blow up in his face. He was called to the “principal’s office” more than once.
The team had its own issues to overcome. Extremely unpopular, they were hoping this straight man would bring some credibility to them. The straight man’s integrity would often cause them much grief. He wasn’t going to lie for them or about them, but he was always trying to put their best face forward. It was a real hard balancing act.
Soon the team’s demise became apparent even to him. His loyalty was still unquestionable and he couldn’t let anyone know that he was even thinking the end was near. Among other things, he didn’t want people to think he was pushing anyone out. Still the team questioned his loyalty. The deeper the team got in trouble, the more they thought he wasn’t doing enough to help their cause.
Most of the team was very suspicious of the media. He was different. He even seemed to enjoy the media. In fact, he had such a good relationship with the media that he could confide things to them, in confidence, and they respected him enough that not a word of it was printed.
Even in Bible times marriages sometimes faced battles. He was fed up with his wife’s antics and he decided to get her out of his life. He would even banish her. Once she was gone, though, he really started to miss her. Everyone around him knew that it would be a mistake to have her come back to his palace. So everyone decided the best thing to do was to find him a new wife.
The man was a king and kings don’t just marry anyone. Kings get the choice of the litter. He must have been pretty picky because they apparently paraded a lot of girls in front of him.
These weren’t just any girls that were presented to the king. These girls went through months and months of training and beauty treatments. There was no dressing down. No, you put on your best outfit and every hair needed to be in place. He didn’t have to take the first one that came along either, because they were all probably going to be beauties.
“Wow! Look at that one,” he said as he could hardly contain his excitement. His servants must have been well pleased with their efforts. Although she had a natural beauty to her they had worked real hard to get her “presentable” for the king. She was a little bit of an outsider. Both her parents died when she was younger and her cousin raised her like his own daughter. That cousin actually worked for the king, so when he heard they were auditioning for a “new queen” he knew his young cousin had what it took.
The king’s servants worked with the girl. They taught her the proper movements. They “cleaned her up” to the standards the king would expect in a new wife. Let’s give the girl her due, though, she worked real hard, too. She did what she was told and the king’s servants were very pleased with her attitude.
When Esther was paraded in front of King Ahasuerus, he was very pleased. Esther’s attitude was far different than Queen Vashti’s attitude. This was a very pleasing thing to the king. It was settled, Esther would become the new Queen.
Thomas DeFrank was a twenty-eight year old reporter for Newsweek. He was called into his editor’s, Mel Elfin’s, office. Mel would tell Tom that he was assigning him to cover the Vice President. “Your job is to live with him until he’s president,” Mel told him. What more could such a young, up and coming reporter dream of?
Tom found the Vice President to be a very different type of politician. Unlike most politicians, the Vice President actually liked the media and liked being around them. The Vice President lacked one of the greatest gifts a politician could wish for, though. He was a lousy speaker. Before he became Vice President, he was the Minority Leader of the House. He was very well liked by both Democrats and Republicans. In that job, he did something that is almost unthinkable today, he tried to work with and get along with the other side.
The President was in very deep trouble and it looked like his Presidential days may be numbered. Everyone knew it was coming, but, as the Vice President, he tried to persuade everyone that wasn’t the case. Everywhere he went he was asked if he thought he was going to be President soon. Despite the evidence, he always replied that he didn’t think that was going to be the case. Everyone started saying, “What’s wrong with him? It is completely obvious that he is going to be President and he is going to be President soon. Is he that stupid?” By his actions no one ever expected that he even had a clue that his Presidential days were close at hand.
Vice President Gerald Ford scheduled a meeting with Thomas DeFrank at an office that had been set up for the Vice President during an Easter stay in Palm Springs, California. He asked Tom about his new born son and family. This wasn’t just friendly conversation for Ford. Ford genuinely cared about each of the members of the press that followed him around.
Ford was very upset about an article William Safire wrote for the New York Times. One of the comments Safire wrote was, “I like the Vice President. I admire him…but I do not think he has the knowledge or range or capacity that the President currently has to conduct American foreign policy.”
The Vice President was both hurt and angry by Safire’s comments. For one thing, Ford was one of only five House members who was part of a secret CIA subcommittee that received highly classified intelligence briefings. Ford blurted out in anger, “They’re angry and they’re bitter because they know Nixon is finished.” Tom replied, “It’s over. He can’t survive, and you’re going to be President.” Without thinking Ford replied, “You’re right, but when the pages of history are written, nobody can say I contributed to it.”
Ford was shocked that he had just let it slip out that he actually did know he was going to be President. So was Tom. Ford said in an almost panic state, “You didn’t hear that.” The young reporter replied, “But I did.” The temper in Vice President Ford flared. His blue eyes had a fiery tint to them. He grabbed Tom by his tie and pulled his head real close. Ford sternly told Tom, “Tom, you are not leaving this room until we have an understanding.” The stunned Tom could not find a word to bring out of his mouth. Then Ford told him, “Write it when I’m dead.”
Gerald Ford knew there was no way for Richard Nixon to survive all his troubles. Ford knew he was going to become President and he was pretty sure it was going to happen rather quickly. But Ford also knew two very important things. First, he knew that there could only be one President at a time. He could not undermine Nixon because Nixon was still the President. Ford also knew it could never look like he was pushing Nixon out. If he looked like he knew he was going to be President, that’s exactly the way it would appear.
Tom DeFrank would honor his word and not utter a word about Ford’s comments until after Ford’s death. DeFrank would write a book after Ford’s death entitled, “Write It When I’m Gone.”
God uses different methods, and different people, to get our attention. It may be a group of people and, who knows, they may be dressed up and looking good or He may surround you with people in casual clothing. They may comfort, console, listen or even rebuke you. Or maybe it is just one person, like Esther, who just seems to grab our attention. That special person can say things to us that most people couldn’t get away with. They don’t do it for spite, they do it because they know we need to be brought back to reality or they just don’t want us to make mistakes that will take our path in a wrong direction. Of course, God also has the guy at the ready who is more than willing to grab us by the tie and shake us until we are ready to listen.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Thank you so much for sending people to cross my path to help keep me straight or help me figure things out. Let me always have a tie for someone to grab if I get too stubborn to listen for your directions. Amen.
