No More Ties

15 years ago to this month I took a job that required me to wear a suit and tie. I was (initially) the sole IT guy for a CPA firm in downtown St. Louis and had to adhere to their suit and tie dress code. After almost two years at that job I then went to work as the network/database administrator of a department store chain down the street. Since they were in the clothing business it was also suit and tie. After a few months at that job I then went to go work for my present employer. That, too, was suit and tie. Being more on the systems engineering side I ended up hanging out at the fringe of the dress code with just a white shirt, tie and slacks leaving the suit coat at home. I've been at that job now for close to 13 years.

For those 13 years my desk was at the corporate campus in Clayton, but as the company expanded they added additional locations that were more IT centered. One of those locations was a technology center in Weldon Spring, MO. While the corporate campus was suit and tie the Weldon facility was business casual.

Over the years I've gone from spending every day at the corporate campus to where I was recently working one day at home, one day at Weldon then the other three in Clayton. Today, though, I've officially moved out to the Weldon campus. My commute has gone from 20 miles to just over 41. Where it would take me about 35 minutes or so (depending on traffic and the weather) it now takes at least 55 minutes. If traffic or the weather don't co-operate then it can easily to turn into one hour and a half.

There's pros and cons to working at either facility, but one of the major pluses to being out at Weldon will be the casual attire. I'm also only required to spend 50% of the work week there with the other 50% working from home. Now for the first time in 15 years I'll no longer be required to wear a tie. While my newer work area is quite bland and misses some of the features of the corporate campus such as a cafeteria I think I'll enjoy not having to wear a piece of cloth around my neck. This coming weekend I'll be packing all my white shirts and ties into a box that hopefully will go somewhere under the bed never to be reopened.