Orkney News for Friday 13th

[Margaret Stokes <milamba@optushome.com.au>]

Strange But True (UK)
Friday October 13, 2000

You Can't Tell An Older Woman What To Do

Monks have banned women under 30 from wearing revealing clothes or 
listening to music while they are working on a Scottish island. The Roman 
Catholic Transalpine Redemptorists have, however, baulked at extending the 
ban to women over 30 because, as their spokesman explained, older women 
will not be bossed about. The monks, who live on Papa Stronsay in Orkney, 
imposed the strict dress code after a group of archaeologists arrived to 
excavate a mediaeval chapel. Initially the young female archaeology 
students dressed like their male colleagues in jeans and T-shirts but the 
monks, who own the island, thought it immodest and asked them to cover up. 
Now all women shy of 30 must wear ankle-length skirts, long-sleeved tops 
and cover their heads. The restriction does not apply to older women 
because "it can be very difficult telling women over 30 what to do," Friar 
Michael Mary, vicar general of the order, said. Although the dress code 
makes life more difficult for the eight women digging at the site of St 
Nicholas chapel, the archaeologists have adhered to the rule. Besides the 
dress code, the archaeologists have other conditions to observe on Papa 
Stronsay. They cannot listen to the radio or CDs, even through headphones, 
and they are not allowed to blaspheme. Anyone who breaks the rules faces 
immediate expulsion to the mainland.

Good thing I'm over 30!! hehehehehe

Milamba

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