TEXT 3 – ARE WE GOING OUT? I’LL GET MY PYJAMAS.
Róisín Ingle is a journalist and social commentator, well known for her articles in The I rish Times.
In the article below she discusses the phenomenon of people wearing pajamas as day-wear.
A sign at a health centre in Blanchardstown
asked people not to turn up for appointments
in pyjamas. Is it fair to impose a dress code on
welfare claimants?
On a grey Wednesday afternoon two people
are queueing to see the community welfare
officers at Damastown Health Centre, in
Blanchardstown, in North Dublin. For the
record, neither of them is wearing pyjamas.
Damastown is one of the health centres that
hit the news this week because of a sign
banning claimants from wearing sleepwear
when attending appointments. ‘Please be
advised that pyjamas are NOT regarded as
appropriate attire when attending Community
Welfare Services at these offices’, read the
notice, which also appeared in nearby Corduff
Health Centre before being photographed and
posted to social media sites.
There is no sign of the controversial notice this
afternoon. ‘It was taken down earlier’, says
a helpful HSE porter who doesn’t want to be
named. ‘A call came from on high to get rid of it.
I don’t know why, but I don’t think they liked the
publicity. I was happy with the sign myself. I don’t
think people should be going into any public
buildings in their pyjamas. It’s only a handful of
people do it but it’s not right, especially if you are
supposed to be looking for a job.’
Standing in the queue, Hanna abrowska from
Poland nods in agreement. Until she came to
Ireland, she had never seen anybody wearing
pyjamas outside their homes. ‘When I first
saw them, I thought they must be drunk or
something,’ she says. ‘You would never see it
in Poland. Not even homeless people would do
that. They try to show respect in public places.
In an office like this you should show respect
for the people who work here and other
people who come in.’
It is understood that the sign was put up after
some clients of the service complained about
fellow claimants turning up in pyjamas. Asked
about the policy and whether it operated
in other social-welfare offices around the
country, a spokesperson for the Department of
Social Protection said there was no dress code
for customers accessing community welfare
services. ‘Generally, the manner of dress is
not a contentious issue, but a local manager
may act on complaints or concerns expressed
by customers on an individual basis,’ the
spokesperson said.
The sleepwear-as-daywear trend is thought to
have begun in the council estates of Liverpool
about a decade ago when pyjamas took over
from tracksuits as a leisurewear of choice.
‘The young women – it’s nearly always women
wearing pyjamas outdoors; rarely men – even
acquired an uncomplimentary acronym: Yuans
stood for ‘young, unwashed and no sense’.
This is not the first time pyjama-wearing in
public has caused controversy. In 2007, parents
of children at a primary school in Belfast were
admonished by the principal, who sent them
a letter pointing out that wearing pyjamas on
the school run was ‘slovenly and rude.’ A Tesco
supermarket in Wales made headlines when it
put up notices asking customers not to shop in
sleepwear or barefoot. An editorial in the London
Times highlighted the growing intolerance
towards people wearing pyjamas in public.
‘What we would always say is that people will
judge you very quickly based on their first
impression and that judgement is generally
made within the first seven seconds,’ says
Audrey Buckley, cofounder of the Irish Image
Consultants Institute.
According to Buckley, 55 per cent of that first
impression is based on how a person looks: ‘If
7
N.B. Answer ONLY ONE Question A and ONLY ONE Question B.
Question A – 50 marks
(i) From your reading of TEyT 2, what impression do you form of Zſisşn Ingle? Support your
answer with reference to the text. (15)
(ii) This article refers to a number of situations where efforts have been made to prevent people
wearing pyjamas in public. Outline these situations and the arguments that were made. (15)
(iii) (a) Do you agree with Hanna abrowska (quoted in the article) that wearing pyjamas while
claiming social welfare is disrespecƞul to those working in the social welfare office?
Explain your answer. (10)
(b) The theme of this examination paper is “expressing strong opinions”. Identify someone,
other than Marian