Monday, August 29, 2005
As if
As an ex-Seattle resident, it's funny to hear what tenured NY'ers have to say about our (your?) lovely little Emerald City. Today at work, I overhead this auditor talking w/ one of our VPs--the one I support actually. She (VP) was actually in Seattle last week, first time she'd been. She loved loved loved it--the water, the Market, Kell's... She was going on about how she couldn't wait to go back, then auditor-lady cut in. "They're an interesting people, it's an interesting place. It's funny, you'll see them in flip-flops and khakis, just off their boats and on their way to one of those nice waterfront restaurants. And it's totally acceptable--you can pretty much wear anything, you don' t have to get dressed up to go out like you do here."
Um, excuse me? Ok, so maybe there's some truth to that, but still it bugged. Especially since VP had just mentioned that, 'oh, K's from Seattle!' How dare she pass judgement on my (your?) town in my presence. And the way she was talking, like Seattleites breath different air. Oh wait, they do--the clean kind.
(Tssh, she's probably been there twice.)
It is pretty funny, though, the experiences VP chooses to share w/ others. She's brought up Hemp Fest several times (is that what it's called? that deal in Myrtle Edwards Park?), like, 'oh, those nutty, freewheelin' Seattle types. so funny, they are!' At least I haven't heard any references to dirty hippies--not yet anyway.
Oh, and she'd never heard of Alaska Airlines! Once I'd booked her a flight, I ran the itinerary by her and she was like 'what? who are they?' Too much time in Europe, poor thing.
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but k. you DON'T have to get dressed up, you CAN (and people do) wear Birkenstocks to the Opera. I got criticized at MSFT for wearing "too much makeup" when all I had on was lipstick. The "just off their boats" thing - okay, presumption, but the rest of it is dead-on true.
and one of the many things that drove me insane!
xoxo
Funny about the Hemp Fest. I think very few people in Seattle even know what that is. It's true about the casual dress part---but that doesn't mean Seattleites aren't driven. I see more young people here walking on the sidewalks, pushing forward with their heads down, in a hurry and riveted to their cell phones, than I ever did in Rome. But then, the Italians are more connected to healthy rhythms. Wish that was true in the U.S. MM in Seattle
face it sweety, clothing comment = true
Yeah, yeah. Alright. But the main point of irritation was, again, her 'I'm all up on this Seattle vibe' attitude.
I might have imagined it, but hey.
:)
I was shocked by the casual dress attitude when i first moved to Seattle. But I'd come from London, where dressing up is practically a necessity. In the end I decided it was cool in Seattle that I didn't have to stress about looking the part, and if I wanted to dress up I could, and if I didn't, it was okay too. No pressure. I find the clothing thing very interesting, because in moving from Australia to the UK to the States and now Canada I've found myself living in different sartorial zones that don't always match my personal style and sometimes I have to adjust a little. (I arrived in Seattle with a cashmere coat and umbrella, and lasted two months before I swapped them for an REI raincoat and a fleece. I still hate wearing raincoats.)