Set the time machine for the 19th Century.

I am confident that I was born too late. I feel far better suited to have lived in the 19th century.

"It is the duty of a gentleman to know how to ride, to shoot, to fence, to box, to swim, to row and to dance. He should be graceful. If attacked by ruffians, a man should be able to defend himself, and also to defend women from their insults."
-Rules of Etiquette and Home Culture. 1886

That is exactly the type of world I would be comfortable living in. Today civility, manners, and common decency have gone the way of the Packard. Case in point: This afternoon I announced to two of my co-workers that I had recently purchased a seersucker suit. A classic with a rich history dating back some 200 years.

Let the mockery begin... You would have thought I had announced the purchase of a Klansmen's robe.

It didn't help the situation any that these two are in their '30s. Clearly they are simply young, ignorant, and have no appreciation for fashion sense, fashion forward, nor fashion history. Obviously they wouldn't know a frock coat from a walking stick.

My sail has always been set on a course for enjoying the rich tapestry that life has to offer. And why not? In an earlier time I might have been tempted to darken my sword with their blood for their ill-advised impudence, but bloodstains generally give my drycleaner fits.

A seersucker suit is one of eight essential pieces every good man should have in his wardrobe. Seersucker was hailed as a great clothing innovation when it was introduced to America back in 1830. The fact that all of this is lost on two of my co-workers is no great cause for alarm I suppose. After all, the world needs servants also.