26 Jan 2009 :: College Caravan
On Saturday night, Joe and I watched a particularly uplifting Slumdog Millionaire, which contained poignant moments that reminded me of my own upbringing, as well as my brother's eventual fall to the temptation of money and violence.
I digress. I don't mean to do a movie review, but comment on some rather particular habits of a specific demographic. Though Saturday was a bit of an anomaly for this winter, it was a typical Oregon night; cold, damp and a light drizzle harassed. Joe and I left the movie theater around 12:30 and took to the sidewalks, where we were constantly passing lines of six or more students, hoods up, sobriety likely absent. Sometimes there would be a group just standing on a corner, hanging out and talking.
I walked about four blocks and saw this repeated over and over again- caravans of college students, slowly trudging in a line, heads down to keep the wet at bay, hands in pockets and talking. Boys in baseball caps and hoodies, hipsters in skinny jeans and girls smothering whatever cute thing they had spent too much time planning to wear under a thick jacket. Wearing Uggs. Here is a brief standing of Uggs in the footwear world; dress shoes, casual shoes, sneakers, barefoot, Uggs. At times I throw a bone to poor style choices- they hit hard and pass into obscurity quickly, so at times people can get wrapped into something ridiculous before they have time to reflect. Uggs have a staying power that has me questioning whether people actually have cognitive thoughts.
In any case, it pleases me that a student group of many thousands spends their weekend nights avoiding puddles on the sidewalk, walking from apartment to party and back again, just in the hopes of having a good weekend. |
