Am I a Mainer?
I'm sitting in a coffee shop. In the course of two days I have been in four different coffee shops with couches and locally roasted coffee, good music blasting and friends hugging in the doorway. The Scotch barista is reciting music lyrics and discussing the elusiveness of meaning.
Portland is awesome that way.
I could go to five more cafes if i wanted to. Because they exist in this caffeinated little town.
I'm sipping chai and I'm a little embarrassed about it because a guy in his late twenties came in here and ordered chai too. And when he asked what kind of chai it was, the barista said, "Masala." And the guy said, "Oh, a little Indian twist, huh?" but in a way that made it very clear that he doesn't realize that chai is Indian milk tea. It wasn't born in an aseptic box in Oregon. But it wasn't so much what he said, but how he said it. And how I reacted.
He was loud and chummy and I was just waiting for him to call someone "Boss." (I think that's more of a NY thing, but its what I thought, OK?)
And all I could think was, "Where is this guy from? Oh. Boston!"
He was just so big city stock broker gone to the country-ish. He was talking at full volume on his cell phone while sipping his chai and when his business associate came in, he started talking about six figure salaries and business opportunities and how he's afraid to run into someone he knows here because he's so cut throat and wouldn't want to offend anyone. I wasn't totally eavesdropping so I didn't get the full context, but all I could think is that I am so happy I don't have to deal or listen to people like him very often.
And all of the sudden all of those snide Mainer comments about "Massholes" made perfect sense to me.
And I smiled. Does that mean I'm now a Mainer?
Portland is awesome that way.
I could go to five more cafes if i wanted to. Because they exist in this caffeinated little town.
I'm sipping chai and I'm a little embarrassed about it because a guy in his late twenties came in here and ordered chai too. And when he asked what kind of chai it was, the barista said, "Masala." And the guy said, "Oh, a little Indian twist, huh?" but in a way that made it very clear that he doesn't realize that chai is Indian milk tea. It wasn't born in an aseptic box in Oregon. But it wasn't so much what he said, but how he said it. And how I reacted.
He was loud and chummy and I was just waiting for him to call someone "Boss." (I think that's more of a NY thing, but its what I thought, OK?)
And all I could think was, "Where is this guy from? Oh. Boston!"
He was just so big city stock broker gone to the country-ish. He was talking at full volume on his cell phone while sipping his chai and when his business associate came in, he started talking about six figure salaries and business opportunities and how he's afraid to run into someone he knows here because he's so cut throat and wouldn't want to offend anyone. I wasn't totally eavesdropping so I didn't get the full context, but all I could think is that I am so happy I don't have to deal or listen to people like him very often.
And all of the sudden all of those snide Mainer comments about "Massholes" made perfect sense to me.
And I smiled. Does that mean I'm now a Mainer?
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