Adventures in Kansas City!

Well, this week I got to fly to Kansas City, Missouri to meet with a software vendor. Don't know exactly where that is? Me neither! I had to look it up. Turns out it's about a state and a half northwest of OKC, pretty much right smack in the middle of the country. If you were playing pin the tail on the donkey, and the US were the donkey's ass, this would be the bull's eye.

Having divided my time growing up between the West coast and Texas, i'll be the first to admit that i'm ignorant about the Midwest! Before moving to Oklahoma, I had a vague geographic understanding of this whole area as one giant cornfield. And please, don't send me nasty email about this! I'm just being honest about the perceptions of alot of coastal people about the heartland. Remember the "red" and "blue" states during the 2004 elections? The US looked like two different countries.

Since moving to Oklahoma last year though, i'm continually discovering new things about the Midwest. For example, we are CLOSE to everything! It reminds me of the joke from "Oh Brother Where Are Thou", about the geographical oddity of a place that's two weeks away from everywhere. We're literally within a day's drive of 2/3rds of the country. Now, in this first short visit to KC I found out some interesting new factoids: first of all, Missouri has an East and West coast (read Missouri River and Mississippi River--who knew?). The natives actually pronounced the state name as Mih-ZUHR-rah. They also pronounce the "s" in Illinois, like Illuh-NOISE. I'd heard someone from Kansas do that before & thought it was just brain damage. Oops! I guess it's a regional thing.

The landscape is much more rolling and wooded than OKC, and there was lots of beautiful autumn color. There was also the same predominance of brick buildings that are standard to everyone here but very striking to me. My impressions from my brief time there (and please, PLEASE correct me if you know better)? It seemed like there's just not much going on. I asked the shuttle driver for suggestions as we were coming in. Other than the Harry Truman Museum, he seemed to be at a loss. He mentioned there is BBQ, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'm from Texas and we are fundamentally BBQ snobs (if it ain't mesquite, we don't eat!). We view Midwest BBQ w/the same kind of fundamental disapproval and suspicion that Lutherans have for hippies.

As if the regional thing weren't enough, i'm still going some culture shock getting used to working for a bank! I went to this conference in my chinos and Land's End comfort mocs and walked into... a room of white-shirted and blue-suited corporate bankers. I felt way, WAY underdressed! Turns out, the banking industry is very status conscious. And, conservative--e.g. no bare legs, no brightly colored hair, & for the first time ever i've had to cover up the tattoo inside my wrist for work. Speaking for IT people in Seattle, it was always a symbol of status that we DIDN'T have to dress like salespeople--it's the Microsoft effect. I miss those good old days of NO dress code!

But, the bottom line is I had a great time seeing a new place--got away from the house for a few days, & had a four-star hotel room all to myself. I'm also enjoying the new job, and there are more business trips to come. Stay tuned! xoxo,

Layla