I work in a clean room, as you all know. The Gortex white clean room suits (sometimes affectionately called "Bunny Suits") are the greatest thing to human equality since the smile. Meaning the smile is something that all humans have in common, something that has no language barrier, and something that draws us all together in harmonious bliss. Now not all humans will have the privilege of wearing a white clean room suit in their lifetime, but if they had, the equality would nonetheless be very apparent.
The white clean room suit (I will henceforth refer to as "Nash") is a full jumpsuit type garment with long sleeves, long legs, and a zipper up the front to the neck. Nash is perfectly white with just a hint of sheen (so the particles and "dirty" things just bounce right off). The accompanying booties and helmet only add to the all-white ensemble. Put on some latex gloves and you're fabulously good to go.
Now the perfection of Nash and the resulting equality it gives comes from the fact that he is always at least one size too big for the person wearing him. This creates lots of wrinkles and folds in Nash while worn. Every single person will have a bulge of Nash perfection around the midsection. Whether this bulge is above the belt or below the belt doesn't matter. The extra material has to go somewhere, so it overlaps and sticks out. There is no getting around this. When I first started working here and was getting to know Nash, I would try to fold it over and tuck the extra material under my belt because it was embarrassing and I thought it made me look fat. This was not only ridiculus, but completely unnecessary. As I soon discovered, EVERYONE had the same bulge and no one else seemed to care. Therefore, I learned not to care.
Nash is so commonplace that no second thought is given to him except on Monday morning when you hear the groans coming from those having to put him on or on special days when upon arriving at work a person finds that a brand new Nash has been hung on their hanger. The brand new Nash is crisp and shiney and will take a few washing before it's only two sizes too big. You only get a new Nash when yours has become dirty or torn. The chemical stains or the rips only diminish it's equalization ability and therefore must be disposed of immediately.
The large size of Nash also contributes to another phenomenon I like to call "equalization among all parties". It does not matter a person's background, a person's lot in life, a person's personality, or the color and style of one's shirt. When hidden underneath Nash, all become equal. There is no clothing brand or style, no haircut, no skin color. Everyone is brought to even playing field underneath the bright white Gortex and extra material flapping in the breeze. (Yes, there's a breeze in the clean room. Maybe next time I will explain Laminar Air Flow".) A person can be completely awkward, inadequately socialized, or smell bad or unhealthily self conscious. When under the protection of Nash, a person can reinvent themselves and become someone completely different. There's freedom behind the white suit. There's protection. The sense of equality transforms a person. A young girl who is constantly fussing about how she looks all of a sudden is free from this concern because not only is it acceptable to be wearing Nash, but everyone looks the same in him anyway. A man who is shy or not very good with the ladies all of a sudden becomes outgoing and witty and will wink and smile when before he couldn't. Nash makes things easy. Nash makes things equal.
It is fun and wonderful to observe human interaction under the cover of Nash. When the environment and the attire are all one color and everyone is equalized under the same garb, the world is a different place. Instead of looking at a person's clothes or makeup or being distracted by their mannerisms, all that can be noticed is a person's voice, a person's hard work, and the gait by which they carry themselves. A completely different set of judgements can be made off of those. Judgements as well as jokes, but that's for another time.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit a clean room and wear your version of Nash, I highly recommend it. It will change how you view human kind. It will change how you view the world.
