One of my favorite discoveries since moving to Portland has been the concept of work dates. It’s not just the “getting out the house while still getting work done” aspect of it that I adore so much - although, don’t get me wrong, I love that part of it - and neither is it the company, as good as it is to see the glamorous Laura Hudson of Comics Alliance on a fairly regular basis. No, it’s the people watching that makes me completely swoon over the whole thing. Right now, I’m sitting in a coffee shop, sipping my San Pellegrino and stuck between a woman who reminds me of a blonde Colleen Coover knitting her heart out while she tries to ignore the older gentleman blasting Peter Gabriel out of his headphones on her other side, and two filmmakers discussing work, the usefulness of editing software and, at one point, something about mobsters and protection programs that I was struggling to evesdrop on without seeming too obvious.
Elsewhere in the cafe, there are people studying, people planning house buying adventures (A realtor seems to have set up shop here, she’s cycled through various dining partners on the same cup of coffee, assuring them all that now is the best time to buy; I get the feeling that now is always the best time to buy, for her), and lots and lots of people on laptops. The lure of people watching and free Wifi, it seems, is strong for people like me. All human life is here, as the saying goes, as long as all human life is made up predominantly of SE Portland media types.
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Content © Graeme McMillan, 2008-2009.
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