shiny shoes and party dresses
weather: sunny, but deceivingly cool.
for some reason, i seem to have a large quantity of really tall male friends. i'm talking at least 6'5" or more. they're the kind of guys who can throw on a nice shirt and trendy pants and command presence just by being in a room. it's not that they're exceptionally fantastic looking ('tho they are rather pleasing to the eye) and it's not even that people always swarm around them (because they don't), it's just that they're noticeably cool. and being someone that people take notice of is no small matter. it's certainly not a 5'6" matter, as i am realizing more and more.
different thread.
i was at a party last night with a bunch of chef-types, and was asked at some point if i was "in the industry". this little question got me thinking about what it means when you're "in" an industry and why do we ask people questions like that when we meet them? i mean, yes, i'm "in the industry" -- just certainly not in HIS industry. he's certainly not in mine. that word -- "the" -- is a funny one.
so after being asked this sort of question, and saying "no, no i'm not in "the" industry", i have to wonder -- is it going to be harder to become this person's friend now? i should hope not. but it could be. afterall, the border was constructed, and the lines were drawn. but maybe it makes it easier, since this declaration excuses both parties from needing to know anything about the other person's work... we've established that it's okay if i forget what a bordelaise sauce is (or even how to spell it), and i certainly won't fault him if he has no idea what programming language to use in an interactive graphics application.
hmm. maybe we can be friends.
regardless, something awkward definitely happens in that moment right after the question is asked and the question is answered.
take the flip side -- say i HAD been in his industry, or he in mine, would that have made our conversation more interesting? or less? on one hand, we may have built instant camaraderie over shared experiences. but we may also have bored each other to tears because there was nothing new on the table to learn about, to explore, to taste, to debug. so, either it's a showdown or a snooze-fest... and who's to know? the conversation was brief. i can hardly even remember his name.
for some reason, i seem to have a large quantity of really tall male friends. i'm talking at least 6'5" or more. they're the kind of guys who can throw on a nice shirt and trendy pants and command presence just by being in a room. it's not that they're exceptionally fantastic looking ('tho they are rather pleasing to the eye) and it's not even that people always swarm around them (because they don't), it's just that they're noticeably cool. and being someone that people take notice of is no small matter. it's certainly not a 5'6" matter, as i am realizing more and more.
different thread.
i was at a party last night with a bunch of chef-types, and was asked at some point if i was "in the industry". this little question got me thinking about what it means when you're "in" an industry and why do we ask people questions like that when we meet them? i mean, yes, i'm "in the industry" -- just certainly not in HIS industry. he's certainly not in mine. that word -- "the" -- is a funny one.
so after being asked this sort of question, and saying "no, no i'm not in "the" industry", i have to wonder -- is it going to be harder to become this person's friend now? i should hope not. but it could be. afterall, the border was constructed, and the lines were drawn. but maybe it makes it easier, since this declaration excuses both parties from needing to know anything about the other person's work... we've established that it's okay if i forget what a bordelaise sauce is (or even how to spell it), and i certainly won't fault him if he has no idea what programming language to use in an interactive graphics application.
hmm. maybe we can be friends.
regardless, something awkward definitely happens in that moment right after the question is asked and the question is answered.
take the flip side -- say i HAD been in his industry, or he in mine, would that have made our conversation more interesting? or less? on one hand, we may have built instant camaraderie over shared experiences. but we may also have bored each other to tears because there was nothing new on the table to learn about, to explore, to taste, to debug. so, either it's a showdown or a snooze-fest... and who's to know? the conversation was brief. i can hardly even remember his name.
posted by megan at
9:52:00 AM
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