At last, someone is trying to get people to stop wearing their pajamas out in public, and all I can say, is a resounding, it’s about time!

According to USA Today, Caddo Parish District 3 Commissioner Michael Williams has suggested an ordinance that would ban public PJs and “encourage a commitment to decency.”

The lawmaker evidently “saw a group of young men at a local Walmart in their sleep gear – one of whom was, shall we say, overexposed,” prompting him to get the legal ball rolling, according to reports.

I remember a day when no one would go out in their nightclothes unless there was a major emergency, like a house fire or heart attack.

To be caught outside in your PJs would have been highly embarrassing.

But, those were also the days when one wore one’s underclothes on the inside and the whole point of pants was for them to cover one’s tush.

Unfortunately, things have obviously changed for the worse.

I’ve often wondered what these two specific “fashion statements” – wearing one’s pants’ waist just above the knees and donning jammies like street clothes – is trying to say.

I understand the former started as an unspoken invitation in America’s prisons, which, I suspect the street thugs and wannabes who favor it would be embarrassed to know if they ever read anything and learned the truth.

The pajama thing, on the other hand, is more mysterious.

It would make sense if it started as a manifestation of simple laziness.

I can envision someone home sick or something figuring that just this once there was no need to change into street clothes for one short errand.

This was so convenient, and since no one made an issue of it, the next time didn’t even require a second thought.

Eventually, someone else who noticed, tried it, too. Then someone came to school like that and wasn’t sent home, and Voila!, a new, accepted, completely disrespectful fashion trend sweeps the country.

The choice to not bother to get dressed – except, as I said, in cases of emergency – says volumes about the person’s view on life, on himself and on his respect for others.

It’s like when you see someone toss a bag of fast-food garbage out their car window into the street – you suddenly know a whole lot about that person’s world and personal view.

This is similar.

It’s part of the coarsening and lowering of our cultural standards, and while it may be distasteful to have to try to legislate class, failing to do so may doom our country to a reality that should only be envisioned in a scary sci-fi movie.

Have PoliticalMavens.com delivered to your inbox in a daily digest by clicking here