High Vis Jackets
Slip on one of these and it seems that people immediately assume you're as thick as pigshit in the neck of a bottle.

Walk into the same location wearing a suit and it seems that the sun has picked today to shine out of your arse.

Having cause to endure both wardrobes in the course of one day illustrates to me just how ignorant some people can actually be.

Not really the same as being called a nig-nog or worse, but there you go.
(mymilkshakebringsallthemongstotheyard poison hearts, poison minds - joining hate, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 22:04, 11 replies)

I've found that putting on a high viz for site visits etc. means people are tripping over themselves to tell me everything they know
I tend to wear them when visiting rivers and the sea though, and carrying big maps, cameras and possibly surveying gear.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 22:15, closed)

Ahhhh
I see what's happened here - in my line of work, an orange one denotes a supervisor, so would likely carry the same gravitas.

Depending on the country though it's also like wearing a magic vest that grants you super-powers (incl. invisibility, yay)
(mymilkshakebringsallthemongstotheyard poison hearts, poison minds - joining hate, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 22:22, closed)

Amen to that
its even worse if you put on overalls
(roadkillontoast, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 22:18, closed)

or a name tag

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Tue 6 Apr 2010, 22:56, closed)

You try stopping traffic
whilst someone reverses a lorry out of yard or something. You put on a hi-viz vest of sorts and drivers will nearly always stop when you tell them too.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 0:24, closed)

on the other hand
wear a suit to a rave and people think you're a twat, a hi-vis jacket is a chav magnet, loads of hugs.
(knackerz is skinning up, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 0:43, closed)

Actually
This group in Australia explored exactly this concept, with hilarious consequences...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=McB9tsabPn0 (not rickroll, honest)
(pizzaforcat ate some cement and HARDENED the FUCK UP on, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 2:17, closed)

In a similar vein
People seem to think you are an inbred fucking moron if you drive a van.

What's that all about? Do people somehow assume that the only people capable of driving Luton's finest are automatically thick as two short planks?
(Flap Burger hasn't really got a burger made of flaps, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 7:30, closed)

On the other hand
if I wore normal clothes and walked into a shopping centre and hit the emergency stop on the escalator, I'd get fined. I could possibly get away with it if I had a hish-vis, hard hat and clipboard.
( Bob Todd whee, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:07, closed)

On the other hand...
...give a hi-vis to a student standing in a field with some cars in, and they suddenly start to behave as if they have some kind of unquestionable authority.

I can see where the spaces are, moron.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:31, closed)

In our house we refer to them as Invincibility Jackets
Because the twunts wearing them immediately regard themselves as impervious to passing traffic and are wont to step out into the middle of the road without looking.
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Wed 7 Apr 2010, 15:17, closed)