Monday, December 18, 2006

Culture Shock

This past weekend, J and I traveled to Enterprise, Oregon (population 1,895) for his new company's holiday party. Well, that was a bit of a shock to the system. It was held in a grange hall, which also doubles as the town's roller rink. Many of the men were wearing their best camo and cowboy hats with facial hair styled into mutton chops and handlebar mustaches (sans the irony), one woman was wearing an early '90s prom dress and platform stripper heels (yes, she worked for the company), more than a few ladies had their tatas on display and there was only one non-whitie in attendance (also a company employee). The booze was a flowin', a country band a playin' and jaws a flappin'. I learned a little too much about some of his co-workers, including a self-proclaimed new bff (she did the proclaiming; I said, sure why not?). And I'm fairly certain J and I were the only non-Christians in the room.

Granted, we are moving to Walla Walla, which is 15 times the size of Enterprise and most of his coworkers don't live there. And, I currently work for one of the more liberal, hip organizations out there. But, upon surveying the room upon our arrival, I did experience a brief, sinking feeling in my stomach, followed by the thought, "What have we done?"

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You didn't tell me you were moving to Southern Illinois!!

Also, what's a bff?

Anonymous said...

Cora almost makes it sound as if HER ta-ta's weren't on display that night. I would also like to point out that I was brave enough to arrive wearing both of my earings, despite having a very good idea of what to expect. The Portland Invasion of SE Washington has begun!

-J

cora d said...

Wait a minute -- my ta-ta's were so not on display. Though I think I managed to flash both tattoos at some point during the night.

I forgot that J did get a little flack for his earrings, which he doesn't wear to work. And he had his spiky hair. A trend setter he will be in WaWa.