Sidewalk Life

The Age of Honesty

I like this NY Times article about how going bankrupt might be the best thing for GM. 

The authors point is that old people are the ones concerned with heritage and stability where young consumers don't care.   If fact he suggests, young buyers might one day consider buying a GM car if the company owns up to past failures, puts it behind them, and restructures itself as something else for the future.  His rationale is that today's youth are forgiving of failure and are actually in favor of brand reinvention - whether you're a start-up, consumer brand or a President.  He points to Silicon Valley and the new entrepreneur spirit as evidence that failure is just a part of success today.

"Transparency and reinvention, rather than stability and regality, are the more valued assets in an economy where entrepreneurs expect to stumble more often than they succeed and where employees expect to have to change jobs (if not careers) multiple times. In the fastest-growing quarters of the economy, admitting your failures and remaking yourself is the new American work ethic."

He also uses  George Bush vs. Al Gore to reinforce his point here. The collapse of one by failing to admit mistakes and the success of the other by reinventing himself after a humiliating defeat.

The idea of failure leading to success reminds me of a great Jordan ad from years back.

Youth Culture is Dead

Adbusters Magazine declares an end to youth culture in Hipster: The Dead end of Western Civilization

"An artificial appropriation of different styles from different eras, the hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning. Not only is it unsustainable, it is suicidal. While previous youth movements have challenged the dysfunction and decadence of their elders, today we have the “hipster” – a youth subculture that mirrors the doomed shallowness of mainstream society."

"An amalgamation of its own history, the youth of the West are left with consuming cool rather that creating it. The cultural zeitgeists of the past have always been sparked by furious indignation and are reactionary movements. But the hipster’s self-involved and isolated maintenance does nothing to feed cultural evolution. Western civilization’s well has run dry. The only way to avoid hitting the colossus of societal failure that looms over the horizon is for the kids to abandon this vain existence and start over."

Kansas City BBQ

If you're going to go to Kansas City, it's worth finding authentic BBQ.  Amity, young planner at Barkley, took us to Arthur Bryant's BBQ not too far from downtown KC.

Inside you order quick and move down the line.  It's a bit like the 'Soup Nazi' from Seinfeld.

You can see to meat roasting in the oak-fired oven through the glass.

In the window, a big jug of BBQ sauce marinates in the sun. 

Suffering for Authenticity

I'm sitting here in my new jeans, in pain, and I'm trying to rationalize the long-term ownership benefits of these versus the short term discomfort I feel.  Today, by the way, is their maiden voyage.  It's the first day of wearing them to work.  They look good, my wife tells me.  Better than any jeans I've ever owned.  And I really want to like them, not just because they're grossly expensive, but because of what they could be.  Not because of what they are now.  As I said, I've been pretty uncomfortable all day.

Here's the story.  I've been looking for some jeans that will last the rest of my lifetime.  Since working on Levi's I fell in love with the idea that (some) jeans get better the more the you wear them.  And I say some because not all jeans are created equal.

So I went down to Jean Shop on W. 14th St in the Meatpacking District and talked to the two appropriately exotic women working in the store.  The place smells of leather and denim like a jeans store should.  They can see I know a little bit about jeans and am looking for the good stuff.  They show me the three cuts (styles) for men and a couple of finishes - dark, washed, and raw.

A bit of background.  Denim has this quality of conforming to the wearers body.  And over time, they take on the shape of your body.  The bend in the back of the knee, the crotch, the outline of your hips, the wear patch in the seat. 

To get jeans to take on your imprint you have to buy raw denim.  The kind of raw denim that's sold stiff as a cardboard box.  It also has to be high quality, ring spun, heavyweight, selvedge denim.  That's the good stuff.  These days the best denim is manufactured in Japan where there's an intense connoiseurship around jeans. That's what I go for.  Like I said, I want these to last me the rest of my life.

One of the sales people gives me the thumbs up.  "Yes, raw is the best."  She slyly says "do you want the regular weight or the heavyweight."  I, of course know to go for the heavyweight.  I've come this far, I'm not backing down now.

I ask for a size 36 - my waist size.  I try them on and come out of the dressing room, which is just a bunch of scrap denim hung from a steel rod (appropriately  minimalist).   Both sales ladies (women?) are involved now.  "Too big" they say.  I think they feel pretty good actually and they're going to shrink right?"  No.  They tell me.  These don't shrink.  They give and conform.  You want them tighter.  So one of the ladies brings me a 34.  I try it on.  They both agree.  "Too loose.  You need tighter." 

Now I'm a bit uncomfortable.  My frame of reference is Levi's shrink to fit from when I was a kid.  You bought them two sizes too big and washed them a couple of times so they'd shrink down to your size.  "That's not how these work.  You want them really tight at the beginning because they'll give over time and your don't want them falling off your hips after a while."  Well, of course I don't want that, so I reluctantly ask for the next size.  "I'll bring you a 33" one of them says.  This is the third pair and they're getting progressively smaller and more difficult to get on.  "Too big still."  They say.  "A 32 will be perfect for you."  So she brings them out and I try one more time. 

I can barely get them on and it takes me a couple of tries to get the fly buttoned.  I come out and wait for judgment.  "Perfect.  32 is your size, see" they say.  "Are you sure.  These are extremely tight?"  I say.  "Yes, you don't want them any bigger."  "If you can fit a finger into the waist, they're too big."  My wife concurs.  "You should get those", she says.  So I do.  I pay for them and they leave me with the following instructions on my way out the door: "Wear for eight months before washing.  And don't get them wet.  Then cold rinse them once and come back to the store and we'll take a look."

The story started by me explaining that I wanted perfect jeans, but with perfection come sacrifices.  Here I am at work wearing my new jeans for the first time.  I think they still look pretty good, but I'm in no way enjoying wearing them. 

For starters, they're two sizes too small.  They're really tight and stiff.  They don't bend.  Which means I don't bend.  I can't sit down for too long because I think they're cutting off the circulation to my legs.  They feel like wearing a cardboard box.

But the stiffness does seem to make me stand up taller.  An unintended side effect I'm sure, but still good for proper posture I guess.

I can't get change in the fifth pocket.  I can barely get one hand in one of the pockets, much less both of them at the same time.  When I cross my legs the cardboard-like creases that fold across the crotch are almost unbearable.  I don't do that often.  The fabric slides across the the surface of itself when crossing my legs.  It literally sounds like rubbing two pieces of paper together.

I haven't received any compliments on them yet, but I'm not discouraged.  I'm in this relationship for the long haul.  Suffering must have some benefit eventually, right?

Authenticity Kills Service

I stopped by a local coffee place in Madison last week and had a revelation.

Coffee houses are good at coffee, but bad a service. 

They tend to hire people with that laid back, hippie vibe.  You know, the kid who's into macrame and music.  And I can understand why. They seem authentic.  People associate coffee with nature and exoticness and crunchy kids sort of embody that back-to-nature ideal. Plus, lots of people read in coffee shops, and tree-hugging kids are unusually well read. 

But hippies are just crap at service.  They annoy you with unwritten rules like "no standing behind the imaginary line by the bread case." And they seem motivated by completely different things than what customers are after: good coffee with quick reliable service. 

This is the secret to Starbucks success I think.  They've been able to blend an environment that feels authentic and staff it with retail salespeople that are really good at customer service.  So they're able to decorate the menu board with colored chalk murals of nature, have at least one wall dedicated to paintings from a local artist and get you your drink without being melodramatic about it or insulting you in some passive-aggressive way.

Greenwashing

Organic dry cleaning seems like an oxymoron doesn't it?  Is this the first chemical-free all natural dry cleaner, or are they just abusing the word organic?