A small number of us wear similar sweaters for work - similar in that they're self-coloured and pleasantly form-fitting. Ok, in my case it's because they've shrunk in the wash… (but that's the subject of a previous, uncomfortable-for-me, blog entry here.)
Yesterday a slightly awkward exchange occurred at the coffee machine, one which I felt an urge to follow up by email. I'd had a brilliant idea - a Eureka moment (but without the nudity and attendant spillages.) Here's the brief exchange:
"As an engineer I’m bound by a code of professional conduct to suggest a solution to the jumper hue issue; a daily palette based on the colours of the rainbow. In ascending frequency order, and by day.
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> Unfortunately though, my purple one today falls outside the rigid boundaries of the, it must be said, unfortunately limited scheme. Your flagrant Thursday jumper today merits a red card I’m afraid, though I’m sure you could carry the visible spectrum off better than I were you to try harder.
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> I’d better start work on version 2.0.
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> Baz."
The reply came a little later. I'd honestly not expected one.
"Hi Barrie,
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> Thank you so much for your email. Well, what can I say? I’m disappointed with myself that I have got off to a bad start on the first day of the week, but I do feel that I need to correct you on something. Your jumper hue is not purple. I do believe it’s a wine/beetroot shade, but definitely not purple.
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> Whilst I appreciate and do accept the card, I can’t accept a red one. Red is just not my colour. I don’t do red and that’s that. Red is not good for us gingers, I’m afraid and as I am too bound by a professional code of conduct as a ginger, you will simply have to come up with another colour.
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> I eagerly await your palette…
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> Have a nice day,"
Me, speechless, though not apoplectically-so:
"\Baz stills sense of outrage, stands^H^H^H^H^H^H sits corrected, starts work on v2.0.1\"
The conciliatory response came an agonising-for-me 50 minutes later:
"I must say that the beetroot/wine colour does suit you though. A warm colour for these Wintery times. I would even go as far to say that it’s perhaps a burgundy. There’s not many who can carry such a shade off."
Awesome. And, with that, order in my universe was restored.
Which was nice.