Beth said, “Oh, Toni has years ahead of us all on Dress Codes.”

Yvette said, “I went to private schools, and we had dress codes, but none of them like this!”

Beth said, “Well, that’s where Toni has the advantage. I went home with her over Thanksgiving since my parents were on assignment in Africa. I got to see Toni’s dress code first hand.”

Yvette said, “So, what’s her secret. Do tell!”

Beth said, “It is simple. Her father got real tired of waiting around for his wife and daughter to get dress each time they were going somewhere. So he first went through their dressers and removed all the undergarments. He told them, ‘If no one can see them, why waste time picking them out, especially trying to match them?’ Although his wife and Toni objected and tried to explain, it was too late. Her father had already donated all their undergarments to charity.”

Yvette said, “Wow! If my dad did that, I think Mom would knock him aside the head with a skillet!”

Beth laughed. “Mine, too, but I guess a skillet or not, you’d still be out of undergarments, right?” She didn’t wait for a response, “Then apparently Toni’s dad started timing them getting dressed. He’s some sort of efficiency expert at work, and makes all these charts on queuing theories. Well, Toni got sick and tired of being reduced to a stopwatch, and so did her mother. They told him, ‘It takes time to coordinate an outfit.’ That set him off to prematching tops with bottoms. He then reasoned longer dresses and slacks took longer to put on than short skirts. Buttoned tops longer than pullovers. Tight collars longer than plunging necklines. Long sleeves longer than short or no sleeves. By the time he weeded out all the ‘slow clothes’ both had nearly empty closets with nothing more than short skirts and loose tops. Any top that halfway covered a butt was called a dress.”

Yvette said, “Oh my! I can imagine how my mother would react! But at least their definition of a dress is better than what we have here on campus.”

Beth continued, “True, and Toni and her mother complained, but they had to admit they weren’t spending as much time getting ready each day. But apparently he wasn’t done yet, as I found out over Thanksgiving.”

Yvette asked, “Did he go throw away lots of your clothes too?”

Beth said, “No, but he did go through them for me. Since the major delay was now on choosing an outfit, he started picking them out for everyone. Each day, he would lay out an outfit for the women to wear, and I was no exception. You took your shower and did your makeup, then reported to the living room to get your clothes.”

Yvette said, “So he had you standing around the living room in a towel?”

Beth blushed, “No towel. Towels were immediate dropped down the chute to the laundry. We reported naked. Since I was a guest, Toni had me shower first. That left me and her mother naked fixing breakfast waiting for Toni before her dad put down his morning newspaper to select our daily wears.”

Yvette said, “You were naked in front of Toni’s dad?”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Yes. And think about your own Thanksgiving weekend. Was your family alone?”

Yvette said, “No. We had all the aunts, uncles, and cousins over for the holiday.”

Beth said, “So did Toni.”

Yvette asked, “How many?”

Beth answered, “Too many. At dinner, all of them filled the dining room, kitchen, and two card tables in the family room and living room.”

Yvette said, “Well, I guess most arrived after you got dressed, right?”

Beth said, “That’s just it. Toni took too long to shower and get ready. Breakfast was served and cold before she came downstairs. She complained about no hot water, but her dad said, ‘You know the rules.’ To which Toni recited, ‘Late for the dressing means no dressing for the day.’ I asked if that applied to everyone else, and Toni said, ‘If you think I’m going to be the only one naked at the Thanksgiving Day table you have another thing coming.”

Beth continued, “Toni’s dad reminded me that I had a role in making Toni late. He knew his wife did not waste the hot water, so that left me. I admitted it, and he made me realize that it was unfair for Toni to suffer the punishment alone. As for Toni’s mother? Apparently, she should have either showered earlier or told me not to take a real hot shower. So, she got some of the blame, too.”

Yvette said, “So what did all the relatives say seeing three naked women in the house?”

Beth said, “It was funny when they were told about  throwing out their undergarments. Some of the women seemed to fear that was the rule of the house, and they quickly peeled off their panties. You never saw so many women wiggling around unhooking and removing their bras. One just stripped topless before reclaiming her blouse.”

“After spending the weekend with Toni’s extended family, I gained a new perspective myself. We don’t have it so bad here. At least we get to pick out our own clothes.”

Just then Toni came walking in and sat down next to Beth. “What’s up? What’s everyone talking about? Oh, while I’m thinking about it, Beth, Mom wants to know if you would like to join us for Christmas. I told her your parents were still traveling.”

The other girls snickered as Beth said, “Sure, just as long as you don’t complain about there no being any hot water left again!”

Toni looked around at all the smiling and nodding faces. “Hmmm, seems I know what you were talking about, and no worries about the hot water. I’m going to shower first!”

Beth said, “Guests first, remember?”

Yvette suggested, “Shower together. The time you lose playing around will be made up by doing your make-up in parallel rather  than sequentially.”

Toni rolled her eyes, “You sound just like my father!”