When I met people who were banned from wearing shorts in school, I could not believe it. Then I remembered not everybody grew up in the South. Growing up in Texas, you would die of heat exhaustion if you wore jeans on the first day of school. The weather is in the 90s during at least the first three weeks of school, and it never gets any colder than 45 degrees. Shorts are the most essential clothing item in that climate.
Even though I don't love wearing shorts as an adult, I don't understand the implication that they are "inappropriate" to wear. If you're working in a hot environment with no air conditioning, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to wear shorts. One Walmart employee took to Reddit to share his story of pants-related woe. Walmart is allegedly making employees pay $3 to be allowed to wear shorts or yoga pants to work on weekends.