@lord_nougat @Humpleupagus @Turkleton @brimshae @reallyangry @Kirino Don’t get me wrong; verily I dig the aesthetic. They make me look invincible. But I’ve always had a deep-seated distrust of them that I never could put my finger on.
Then, one day, I read a story from the life of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, totally out of the blue at the time.
A man showed up at Church, did the usual bows and venerations, and proceeded to try to enter the Sanctuary for Altar Service. But just before he stepped inside the Deacon’s Door, Vladyka John stopped him, and told him he needed to remove his neck-tie. As this was a directive straight from the Archbishop, the man unhesitatingly obeyed; but he found himself utterly puzzled by it.
Some time later, he got the chance to ask Vladyka why he ordered him to remove his tie. In paraphrase, St. John informed him that the neck-tie spiritually symbolizes a noose, which itself is symbolic of Death; and that such symbols have no place in the Sanctuary with the Lord and Giver of Life.
I have no way to verify the absolute historicity of this narrative; but as it’s within living memory, I trust the essence of it has accurately been recorded. In this, however, I see a perfect explanation for why I think they look so cool, and also why I‘ve always felt such dread at the prospect of having to wear one in a professional setting.