the other morning i witnessed a postman in jeans and scruffy t shirt and a milkman in a pristine white "chav style" tracksuit with all the bling etc. whats happened to such professions having some kind of dress code/uniform? how long is it before the police and firemen start wearing mufti??

Originally posted by billythecat
whats happened to such professions having some kind of dress code/uniform? how long is it before the police and firemen start wearing mufti??

Milkmen are hardly professionals! :suspect:

Postmen are hardly professionals!

When I get up at 4 in the morning I aint putting too much thought into what to wear :)

Why do you care? What does it matter if you can't tell the which one is which, so long as you get your post and your milk on time?

"hello darling, did you sleep well?"

"Yes dear I did thanks only I was awoken slightly early due to the chav style milkman posting his delivery at the foot of our front door. Have you tasted the gold top? It stinks of stolen Honda Civic and has the aftertaste of a burnt out Vectra. I must look at buying that UHT from the Co-Op in future."

Response from hubby or boyfriend:

"Yes darling, oh and Gordon Brown is on GMTV this morning... think he's on at 8.15am, after the break".

Postmen may not be professionals, but they are crown servents and therefore should dress properly.

Originally posted by Andy
Postmen may not be professionals, but they are crown servents and therefore should dress properly.

yes, in blue - at the very least!

I agree. Our postman is always on time, and impeccably attired in his work uniform. He is also the friendliest postman I have ever met. I must add that I no longer live in Sheffield. When I am in Sheffield the post NEVER comes before 11am. Why the change? It used to be early. No such thing as getting your post before going to work anymore.

Postmen should be in uniform, they should also be able to deliver mail efficiently and should be able to do so without loosing/breaking/eating/accidentally opening/wiping their nose with a quality sadly lacking amoung the vast majority of royal mail staff, is this some sort of subversive reaction to the privaisation/de-regulation of the postal service? I suspect so.

Milkmen on the other hand i would say have always been a bit seedy or dodgy; think of the Benny Hill sterotype also seen in the classic speed based father ted episode. So chav (which is a horrible tabloid-esc word which is only really used to maintain a middle class feeling of self worth) milkman is hardly a suprise. Whether wearing a white coat and black trousers makes a difference to your semi-skimmed arriving for crunchy nut cornflakes and earl grey of a morn iam yet to be convinced, a professional attitude to work would be better.

well dout the milkman is going to wear a suite early morning.

I never see our postman, so he can wear whatever he likes, as long as the post gets delivered I'm not bothered.

it seems like people are judgemental idiots these days

I have to say I've made the connection (wrongful or otherwise) between the amount of post we've had go missing (DVDs, CDs, birthday gifts) in the last few months and the fact that the postmen in our area look like a bunch of uncaring, ununiformed temps out for what they can get.

why the *** does it matter what they wear?thats just discrimination

if your gettin your post/milk/whatever on time then why care....some people on this forum seem to get wound up by the smallest things.

Originally posted by THCAyle
why the *** does it matter what they wear?thats just discrimination


In the case of postmen, it matters because they are crown servents and should dress properly. My grandad used to be a postman and was proud to wear his uniform, which in those days included a cap!

Would you stand for policemen dressed like tramps? Or council officials? I think not!

Originally posted by Andy
In the case of postmen, it matters because they are crown servents and should dress properly. My grandad used to be a postman and was proud to wear his uniform, which in those days included a cap!


I always wanted to be a Postman.
My Mom would say " Well, it's better than walking the streets"

because of cut backs theres loads of temps on/off working for the post service - who dont have a uniform...

because of cut backs theres no longer first and second post delivered, so just a general one that comes mid morning...

and because of cut backs a lot of long-serving posties dont get paid what they should these days, leading to less pride in the job id imagine.

on the other hand tho, good that the service is finally making a profit

I've worked for Royal Mail for 2 years in total and have ordered trousers on six occasions. Either they send me the wrong size, or just don't send my order at all. But I make the effort to wear navy trousers. I'm proud to wear my uniform.

Postmen need to dress properly because they are trusted with our mail, care a lot about that one...think what you have seen is a one off, which will always happen.

Milkmen however can wear whatever they like, if employing chavs keeps the cost of milk down then fair play.

...these of course are just my opinions

In my opinion, there should be a smart uniform for this type of role, I feel it is important when the postman is a trusted figure who most people welcome on their property and have no reservation in opening the door to. If a standard recognisable uniform is not used, confusion, particularly amongst the elderly will be exploited by, for want of a better term, thieving predators.