Apparently, God has a dress code. Apparently, he’s also informed Dadeville, Ala. city councilor Frank Goodman that he should ban the baggin’ saggin’ plague on his town of 3,200 residents. Seriously though, Goodman informed The Daily Beast about his issued ordinance to ban “busting slack,” which, in human terms, means banning sartorial sins like oversized trousers and ladies’ short shorts.
“Seeing the young boys with pants hanging down, having to walk wide-legged, holding their pants up to keep them from falling down—now it’s gotten real bad,” Goodman said. “It’s something I couldn’t take no more.”
Seeing men wearing baggy pants at the grocery store or at local shops frustrated Goodman. Searching for a solution to the low riding scourge in his town, he reached out to God. In his pursuit for answers, he received divine enlightenment. “He would show me this saggy pant—it’s one of the things He did not do. It is not in His orders to do that to gain eternal life,” said Goodman.
Before you claim that the ordinance is only targeting men, take heart. Thanks to the input of fellow councilwoman Stephanie Kelley, they’ve added a line to ban short skirts and short shorts—to avoid showing “favoritism.”
This isn’t the first time that Goodman has tried to edit the wardrobes of those in his jurisdiction; Goodman made a move to stop baggy pants back in 2008, but the legislation ultimately went nowhere.
But what do the residents have to say? According to Facebook, one local woman expressed her embarrassment at the national coverage the issue is receiving. “It’s a good thing our city council is such a big joke because a lot of people around the country sure are laughing.” A majority of responses to the aforementioned thread share the sentiment, pointing to bigger issues, like “opening up downtown, and cleaning up the actual city streets.”
No matter how you feel about this ordinance, Goodman did make a very sound point: “I know that God would not go around with pants down.”
