After four months of wearing my cassock and Benedictine scapular everyday as my work clothes, certain advantages and disadvantages have become apparent:
Pros
- It looks smart
- It really is more comfortable than a jacket
- If your ermm, body shape fluctuates you have more expansion room
- the pockets are capacious
- It’s cool when you want it cool–you can wear shorts and T-shirt underneath
- It’s warm when you want it warm–just wear warmer gear underneath
- the high school kids generally think it cooler than a tab shirt etc.
- it looks great with the big black cape I still have from my English days
- the scapular makes a handy hotpad for getting things out of the oven
- people in airports take notice
- it is a sign of contradiction
- a guy at the cash register at Office Depot asked about RCIA
- The scapular makes you look thinner
- it says ‘Catholic and proud of it’ in the Bible Belt
- You are not mistaken for an Episcopalian
- You can hide a sawn off shotgun underneath the robes
- You can’t misbehave when wearing the uniform
Cons
- They’re more likely to frisk you at the airport security… You might have a sawn off shotgun hidden up there
- The scapular gets stuck in the car door
- Personal errm…hygiene matters become more complicated
- It can be tricky going up stairs
- Like the Scotsman’s kilt–people wonder what you wear underneath
- The cat thinks the scapular is a plaything
- The children think the scapular is a plaything (it is treated as a train or blindfold)
- You’re mistaken for a monk.
- You’re not mistaken for a monk.
- The scapular gets caught in the spokes of the motorcycle wheel–definitely not good–especially at high speeds
- All those buttons….but I’m not cheating with one of those zip up jobs
- People at airports take notice
- You can’t misbehave when wearing the uniform