The Great Tank Top Rebellion

It was a rare, beautiful weekend in Memphis.

I mean not just beautiful, but picture-perfect. The skies were blue. The clouds were fluffy and white. The temperatures hovered around 80. And it was late on a Sunday afternoon. We had been out at the ballfield to watch Hotass play softball. (The Pumping Station Heat won their two games. Go Heat!) And it was still early enough in the afternoon that we were hungry and feeling like we could pack away a drink or four.

One of the best patios in Memphis is Bosco's. Conveniently located in Midtown, Bosco's serves up some good homebrew as well as a kick-ass pizza. So on this late spring Sunday afternoon, we thought we'd blow up into Bosco's and enjoy the afternoon.

Now mind you, we were dressed casually. Shorts. Sandals. And, yes, some among us were wearing tanktops or at the least a muscle shirt.

Five us of walked in. The hostess looked right us and proceeded to walk away to the bar, where she said to the bartender, "I need to ask you a question." The bartender noticed us and pointed at us as if to say, "You dumb girl, you've got a table of five ready to be seated." She came back, grabbed some menus and proceeded to lead us to the patio.

We passed a table of Bosco's servers, probably on their break or ones who had just been cut. And one shouts out as our hostess leads us to the patio, "Hey! No tank-tops!"

As our polite, but seemingly oblivious, server showed us to a table on the patio, which was sparsely occupied by smokers and a few others, another one of Bosco's staff burst through door and reiterated what had been shouted out by the off-duty servers. "I'm sorry but you can't wear tanktops."

Wha?

"We don't allow tanktops but we'll be glad to give you a t-shirt to wear."

Excuse me? But what about girls with their skinny little spaghetti straps and their cleavage hanging out over their Flaming Stone?

Apparently, boobs are ok.

We all declined the Bosco's t-shirts and quickly made our exits, muttering to everyone within listening distance how stupid and decidedly sexist the Bosco's dress code was.

To Bosco's credit, they do post on their front door "Appropriate Attire Required." But that's it.

I agree that businesses reserve the right to decide what dress is appropriate for their customers. For example, I wouldn't expect Paulette's, right next door to Bosco's. to let us in wearing only t-shirts, sandals and shorts. That's why we chose Bosco's, because Bosco's has a casual menu, a full homebrewed beer selection and a fairly casual atmosphere.

But at Bosco's there is no definition of what exactly is appropriate attire. Is it coat and tie? Perhaps it's Japanese kimonos? Maybe only Eskimo parkas are appropriate? Who can say? It's pretty commonplace for "No shirt, no shoes, no service." But come on. We were wearing sandals (as were most of the women, and a few of the guys.) And it's not as if manboobs were exposed to everyone. And our only sin was that our sleeve-line rose up two inches above where it could have been.

Secondly, if this was a Bosco's policy, how come our hostess and the bartender,who so politely pointed out to her that we were ready to be seated, weren't aware of this policy? It would seem like the hostess would be the first line of defense against the undesirables who come through the front door in tanktops.

Thirdly, let's talk about the assholes who were on break or had recently been cut. If we were indeed in violation, was it really good customer service for the cut staff seated at a booth drinking their pints of beer and counting their tips to shout out "Hey! No tank tops!" as we walked by?

The bottom line is that a business can adopt any policy it wants for its customers. If you only want black people in line green plaid sportcoats, it's a free country. Whatever you think will make you money or satisfy your cockeyed sense of capitalism.

However, be consistent and be sensible. So a girl wants to walk in a spaghetti strap tank dress with her tits bulging out of it. Big deal. Just don't be indignant when a guy walks in a tank top. At the worst, he's showing his pit hair and maybe some side flaps. But I've seen some girls who show the same damn thing.

So tell me... who was in the "wrong" in this scenario?