I know I'm supposed to be on hiatus, but something unique prompted a quick check-in.
Last night, while attending the Hillsboro, Oregon Tuesday Farmer's Market, I spotted my first David Beckham LA Galaxy jersey. Not that interesting, one might say, but the context is significant. To begin, when one sees a soccer shirt in Hillsboro, it will be a Mexican club teams 80 times out of 100; 19 times out of 100, it will be a Mexican National team jersey; I once saw someone wearing a generic Chicago Fire jersey, which resulted in a day-long meditation on how the hell such things happen. The crucial thing is, Mexican clubs rule Hillsboro; you may get Euro clubs' jerseys in Portland, but not in Hillsboro.
The second point of interest was the person wearing it and where she chose to wear it. The girl in question was a high school student, a white, "chunky-athletic" brunette whose general appearance suggested neither nerd nor princess; more accurately, she looked determinedly normal, as in she didn't have the appearance of one looking to set high-risk trends. And that brings us to the occasion: the Tuesday market is kind of Hillsboro's "big night out." The place is crawling with packs of teenagers, out on the town to see and be seen.
Here's how I put it all together: a young girl gets dressed up to go hang out with her friends in a decidedly high-traffic area, and one crawling with her peers; given that, she must, on some level, think a Beckham jersey is cool. Whether her statement was love of the game (doubtful), love of the player (more likely), or love of the shirt as an accessory, someone out my way thinks this whole Beckham-thing is pretty hip.
I call that evidence that the whole master-plan continues to work as intended....so far at least....
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5 comments:
that's great stuff, "chunky athletic" haha
Before moving to Germany, I lived in Portland for 25 years and I never knew the Hillsboro Farmers Market was the hot place to hang out on Tuesday night...I am on my way back to visit so maybe I will pick up a Beckham jersey and head out there....
I thought it was Hillsburrito?
I wouldn't be so quick to laugh at the whole "chunky athletic" description. It describes the majority of the scrum of the college women's rugby team I played on many years ago for a semester. Most of whom were angry lesbians (although otherwise decent people) and none of whom you'd want to meet up with in a dark alley if you'd done something to offend them.
Mock if you must, but watch your back.
The funny thing is, I thought "chunky athletic" was a pretty common description. Turns it it's something I just picked up from my sisters. Who knew? Anyhoo, it's meant to describe someone who isn't thin, but who looks like she could still run cross-country. In my head, it's actually complimentary...or at least it beats the hell out of "slovenly fat."
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