One of the rules I used to break a lot was the part of the dress code that says, "no jeans except on the weekends." I normally feel better when I dress up a little but there were (a lot of) days when I could hardly pour myself out of bed, let alone find an outfit (this has since been remedied). These were the days that jeans and a sweater were my uniform, otherwise I wouldn't go to work at all.
No one ever said anything to me about it, hopefully because I'm so awesome that they're just happy that I grace them with my presence everyday. </sarcasm> One day at a staff meeting our director announced that anyone could wear jeans on Friday if they made a $5 donation to a local charity she had selected.
Suddenly I felt like all these rule violations equaled an opportunity to help others lost. I was stealing from the mouths of babes! I'm really pretty good now about not breaking that rule anymore. Ok well I have two pairs of denim looking slacks (I guess?) that are much nicer than regular jeans and a lot better than the yoga/sweatpants I've seen other people wear on a regular basis.
What prompted this idea on the director's part? Did she intend to me feel so guilty that I would stop breaking the dress code? I doubt it. Did it work? Absolutely. Either way I feel that it was a stroke of genius whether it was intended that way or not. Also I must remember this for the next time I have to deal with a rule breaker.
