This and That About Neckties

Jack Ostlind was a child of the depression, defined by World war ll and his lifelong job with a large multinational company.

As a young man he wore a tie in High School for every major event; the same in College, and when he finally went to work for Chevron, he was quite comfortable, in fact more comfortable wearing a tie everyday when he went to work, and afterward for all social events.

In one instance, while he was regional sales manager for the Portland office, the home office requested a joint sales meeting with the California and Arizona region.   The dress was much more causal in the farming areas of California and Arizona, and men’s ties were not often worn.

During the planning of the meeting, a great controversy developed over wearing ties or not wearing ties at the joint meeting.  The Regional Manager from Fresno said no, and Jack said yes.   This argument continued until the National Sales manager had to step in to make a decision and said no ties.

This decision bothered Jack quite a bit, but he rose to the occasion and left his tie in the room most of the time, but once or twice during the meeting he wore the tie just to prove his point.

Wearing ties on a daily basis worked fine when the office was in Portland, Oregon, but when the  sales office was moved to Kennewick Washington in the late 1970’s, the situation changed.   Kennewick was in the desert, and ties, especially in the summer, were not really all that comfortable. They were still acceptable at work, but tieless was also acceptable, especially in the summertime.

Our relationship with Jack and his wife Vivian became much stronger when they moved to Kennewick, where Sandi and I were already living, and we developed a social as well as a business relationship.

Jack and Vivian came to our house quite a bit, and he always wore a tie, even for a casual BBQ; it was just his style.

As our relationship progressed, I continued to tell him that ties were not necessary at our house.    He understood, but was still not able to overcome his comfort level in wearing a tie.

One of the things that Jack enjoyed about coming to our house was our dog, Barney.   He was a great laid back Springer Spaniel that was part of the family, and enjoyed company as much as we did.  Our house was a daylight basement house, with several steps coming up to the front door.  When people came to visit, Barney always sat at the entry way waiting to meet the people as they came up the stairs.  Jack was no exception, and he always sat wagging his tail to greet Jack.

I was jogging in those days, and while out, on a Saturday, on a day that Jack and Vivian were coming for dinner, I found a bright pink tie that someone had apparently thrown out a car window.   I picked up the tie, and brought it home with me.

When it was time for Jack and Vivian to arrive, I tied the tie around Barney’s neck.

When Jack arrived and started up the stairs there was Jack coming up the stairs with his fashionable tie, and waiting for him was Barney with his trashy pink one.

Jack enjoyed the scene, took his tie off, and wore it with us only when it was appropriate from that point on.

I really think he gained a whole new comfort level without a tie from this experience, but still understood there was a time and place for a tie.