Clip-Ons Again

Way back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, I expatiated on the evils of neckties, and how they cut off the blood flow to the brain.   I will slip one on with reluctance for solemn occasions like weddings, Greco-Roman wrestling exhibitions, or public hangings (why they  call them "necktie parties," not so?).  I wore neckties during my first year as a professor until one day I forgot and, like, you know. For the young fry still seeking jobs, I have long suggested that we take a tip from Knott's Berry Farm and paint a few suited and tied bodies onto a piece of wallboard, with holes cut so the student could stick his head through and show the prospective employer what he would look like if he actually got the job.

When I was a judge, I did make a concession: I kept a necktie hanging on the inside of the door between my chamber and my courtroom, so I could slip it on and off in a timely manner--meaning I think, that I was only stupid at those times when I was actually doing my job.   That was what prompted my friend Scott to offer what I back then called "a constructive suggestion."  As I wrote:

He noted that United Airlines supplied its counter clerks with clip-on ties. It was a safety measure, so that when the clerk said “We’re sorry, we seem to have sent your baggage to Warsaw,” then at least the clerk would not get strangled. Scott said he thought the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts ought to show the same courtesy to the judges.

Ah. Don't know that the AO has changed his policy, but I see the NYPD is thinking along the same lines.  Not always, though: