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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Reverend_Bull on 2025-06-13 13:00:09+00:00.
Piggybacking off recent dress code posts, this one is from my uncle. He's retired now, but I thought y'all would enjoy the story.
For background, my kinfolk are in East Kentucky. Hillbilly folks. My dad's generation were the barefoot and wild children folks talk about from "Night Comes to the Cumberlands." Out there, a suit and tie is rarely worn, and many don't bother even owning one from Goodwill. We're simple folks, but we got a spiteful streak. And we certainly know how to improvise.
My uncle got a job with the USPS in Florida and was internally promoted to manager. After that, he had to dress up. Class distinction, public respectability, all that jazz. He asked for specifics and was told he had to wear a tie. Guess they thought the rest of the suit would follow.
Cue malicious compliance.
My uncle made a lifelong hobby of collecting the most singularly ugly ties known to mankind. He wore ties so loud it could give a sober person a hangover. Orange and red and yellow patterns that screamed to the eye. Tie dye. Tie prints that looked like spilled paint cans.
Two particular favorites:
He owns a wooden tie. It's literally made of wood slats hinged together, so one could roll it up at the neck and let it drop with a clack-clack-clack into place.
Remember the 3D image craze of the 90s? He bought several in that style. One resolved when you got the right kind of cock-eyed to a naked lady. Another just said "FUCK YOU" in the pattern.
Unfortunately, the fallout was minimal. USPS doesn't change much. As I hear it, the dress code changed to "business casual" with informal rules about being a little nicer dressed than subordinates. But I also hear that a few other casual folks who rankle under the rules have hit my uncle up for ties now that he's retired. And he certainly inspired me - I'm looking at buying a chainmail tie one of these days to wear while I teach.