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Monday, April 03, 2006

A tie on a Sunday?

My conference in Florida began on a Sunday, so I figured I might as well put on a tie in the morning for the flight down and save myself the trouble of putting one on in the middle of the day. While the conference dress code is "business casual," I can't conceive of working without a tie; so I've chosen casual ties for the four days of the conference. Casual Florida ties, at that (and never mind that they don't look anything like the ties of bona fide Floridian Mike Segers; I'm more after the "concept of Florida," if you will). This is a hand-printed tie (silkscreen on cotton, I believe) from Key West Fashions. I knew I picked the right tie when I went to the check-in counter at the airport: I got my boarding pass, checked my bag, and the clerk said, "Welcome back to Orlando." Back? Now if that's not just a stock phrase that the clerks have to tell everybody (and I refuse to believe it is), then I can only assume she mistook me for a Floridian. Yes! Then one of the security screeners told me he liked my tie. Then, when I got off the plane in Orlando, who was sitting on the very first seat next to the door but... John Waters! He didn't say anything about my tie, though; he must have wanted to respect my privacy, so I returned the favor. Several more people complimented me on my tie throughout the day, so my trip is off to a good start. Oh yeah, I also learned stuff, too, and saw a motivational speech from Boston Philharmonic conductor Ben Zander, which was nice.

2 comments:

Chris C. said...

OMG! John Waters?!! Truly this makes one ponder: Is it better, or worse, to have your tie ignored by the very Emperor of Bad Taste? Hmmmm...

But BV, the appeal of your own tie notwithstanding, surely you understand that what All America wants to know is: What tie was he wearing??

Signed,

Curious Jack

Burl Veneer said...

He was not wearing a tie! He was dressed all in black: black sneakers with black laces, black socks, black stretch jeans, and a black pullover, I think. How much blacker could his outfit have been? None, none blacker.

And you're right, perhaps his silence re my tie was the best outcome. Certainly better than one of his scathing compliments!

BV