The pajama party might be over for residents of Caddo Parish in northwest Louisiana, the Shreveport Times reports.
Michael Williams, a Caddo commissioner, is proposing an ordinance that will prohibit locals from wearing pajama pants in public after an incident at a local Walmart offended the official and other customers. Williams said one of a group of young men clad in pajama pants revealed his private parts, inciting the idea for the ban.
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“If you can’t [wear pajamas] at the boardwalk or courthouse, why are you going to do it in a restaurant or in public? Today it’s pajamas,” Williams told the Times. “Tomorrow it’s underwear. Where does it stop?”
Underwear tomorrow might be a little extreme. But some residents are bothered by the idea of banning pajamas in public. Tracy Carter, a resident of Shreveport, told the Times she and her three young children wear pajamas in public often. “I can get out of the bed and go to the store, and they’re covering everything,” she said. “I’ve got a 3-year-old, a 5-year-old and a 12-year old to deal with.”
A major issue with the ordinance is defining what constitutes pajamas. Williams said a possible solution is specifying any item sold in the sleepwear section of department stores. He also suggested violators do community service rather than serve jail time.
The city of Shreveport, which resides in Caddo Parish, has experience with public dress code. The city instituted a no-saggy pants law, and reported 31 misdemeanor summons for locals wearing pants too low in 2011, according to police spokesman Bill Goodin.
Perhaps pants prohibition will continue in Louisiana, when Williams plans to poll his commission colleagues in February on the possible ordinance.