Manhattan Pajama Party

Boxing Day blizzard-wear By [Jeanne Martinet] We thought it was such a daring thing to do. It was Boxing Day 2010, which will be forever after known as Blizzard Day 2010. A good friend of mine was stuck in the city, her flight having been postponed indefinitely, so I invited her to stay with me. At around 11:30 p.m., we both suddenly realized we were out of the most essential emergency supplies, such as ice cream and beer. It had been snowing for hours and hours. Why had we waited so long to think about what we might need? One of the reasons we were so unconcerned also happens to be one of the greatest benefits of living in a city like New York: NO DRIVING NECESSARY. This can actually make you a little too cavalier; to wit, we were already in our pajamas by the time we realized we really had to go shopping. The thought of getting back into our clothes was not at all appealing. Then it occurred to me: Why not just go out in our pajamas? The storm made everything feel special, as if all the rules had been rescinded. Everything was abnormal. There were no cars on the road; everything was pristine and white; planes were grounded; school was canceled. Why should there be a dress code? So we threw our coats on over our PJs, stepped into boots and clambered over the mounds of snow to the convenience store down the block. It was a little less crazy for my guest, as she had pajama pants, but's I have to confess it's I was wearing a nightgown. I did, however, have on a long overcoat. We were giggling like college students (who, I"m told, venture out in their pajamas at night on a fairly regular basis) looking at the ice cream flavors, when we happened to glance at the legs of a middle-aged man in a thigh-length hooded parka...Were they, could they be... yes! They were pajama pants for sure. I immediately wanted to say something to the man, like, â??Hey, we"re in our pajamas too! but I decided that, blizzard or no, you just don"t do that kind of thing. That is, I thought that until I saw the other man. This second man had a longer coat and no hat, and was a little younger's maybe in his thirties. He was over at the milk refrigerator, and we were headed in that direction for orange juice. This time I could not resist. â??Hey, did you know there are a lot of people here in their pajamas? I said gaily. At first he looked nervous (the split-second response most of us have when surprised by a stranger) and a little embarrassed. Then we all laughed. Loudly. This unfortunately caused the two or three other people in the store to look back at us. (So much for slipping in under the radar.) But it was fun to realize we had all broken a major, if meaningless, societal rule. I mean, on a normal day you have to be pretty off-balance to go out in your pajamas in a public place. (Never mind walking the dog in your suburban backyard, that doesn"t count.) But in a blizzard? Turns out everyone goes out in their pajamas. It"s acceptable â??snow-couture. The fact is, if we did not care what anyone thought of us, we"d be in that convenience store in our PJs all the time. It"s easier. It"s comfortable. Sadly, it"s also considered uncivilized. But because during a weather disaster there is the unanimous understanding that everyone is struggling to deal with the extreme effects of weather, suddenly we can be forgiven for all kinds of behavior bending. The snow didn"t just cover the city in white, it gave us carte blanche. All of us sleepwear-clad customers in the store checked out together's first the middle-aged man, then the hatless man, then my friend and I. The cashier never said a word, didn"t seem to notice our pajama party at all. Perhaps it was a case of snow-blindness. P.S.: The bottoms of our PJs were soaked by the time we got home. So much for not having to change our clothes. _ [Jeanne Martinet](http://JeanneMartinet.com), aka Miss Mingle, is the author of seven books on social interaction. Her latest book is a novel, Etiquette for the End of the World. You can contact her at [JeanneMartinet.com.](http://JeanneMartinet.com)