#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
"As white people get older, they like to make clear boundaries between their professional and personal lives. They don’t mind talking about their personal life at work, but they hate talking about their work life when they are enjoying a weekend or vacation. But with blackberries and laptops, white people could be working anywhere, at any time. So how do you know when they are off the clock? It’s easy, check their clothes.When white people aren’t working, they generally like to wear Outdoor Performance Clothes. The top suppliers of these garments and accessories include North Face, REI, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, Columbia Sportswear, and Patagonia.
When you see white people wearing these, it is important that you do not discuss business matters. Instead you should say things like “where did you get that fleece?” and “what’s that thing holding your keys to your shorts?” White people will be more than happy to talk to you about their sustainably produced possessions.
The main reason why white people like these clothes is that it allows them to believe that at any moment they could find themselves with a Thule rack on top of their car headed to a national park. It could be 4:00 p.m. on a Saturday when they might get a call “hey man, you know what we need to do? Kayak then camping, right now. I’m on my way to get you, there is no time to change clothes.”
Also see #81: Graduate School
3 comments:
Unless, of course, they are geologists - geologists where outdoor performance clothes at work (and at professional conferences!). Which may explain that Calvin & Hobbes cartoon claiming that "geologist" isn't a job.
On a more serious note, I wonder if the "stuff white people like" image contributes to geology's problem reaching out to people who aren't white.
There was definitly a certain irony about reading that blog post yesterday, and my interest to bring it here. When I think of these non-geology types that dress this way I am forced to think of places like Boulder and Bozeman, for example.
You may have a good point on the images. I have often wondered why geology is such a pale dominated field (paleo to!). I will have to ponder more on this, I just realized I am super late for work!!.........
Look at this good knockoff:
http://stuffwhiteparentslike.com
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