The Jealous City

You can't put too much stock in the gazillion "Top Ten" lists magazines put out. But my town landed on another one from Forbes recently that caught my eye. It's the second most Jealous city in America. They base that on property crime rates - ie. people wanting your stuff SO bad they're willing to steal it. But I've noticed a definite concern with keeping up appearances around here.

The gym I go to in the morning is right up the street from the big banking center of town. You would not BELIEVE the amount of work the women there put into getting ready every morning and talking about each other's stuff. Clothes, shoes, cars. Lots of nice cars rolling on the roads here. Big luxury SUV types, especially. But last night I really got a look at the young professional crowd people warned me about. They rule the Uptown roost on weekends. I went to see the Second City comedy troupe with a friend last night. (P.S. Why must comedy these days be so vulgar to be funny? Of all people, you'd think the quick-witted improvisational comedian would know how to be funny without turning to dirty jokes and swear words as crutches. Alas.)

Afterward, we hit one of the local late-night restaurant hang outs for some food. At random, I picked one of the THE spots for the banking scene. It was bizarre. Charlotte is so diverse and I get to revel in that all day long out in the community for work. But last night at Cosmos everyone had the same crew cut, the same halter top, the same well-polished dress shoes. The same person didn't wear all of those items simultaneously, of course. Though that would have made things much more interesting. We got a table on the balcony overlooking the main bar so I could stare shamelessly (I call it people watching, others probably just call it rude.) But I got bored after just a few minutes because they all blurred together in their efforts to out crew-cut, silk-tie and Jimmy Choo each other. Not a polyester leisure suit or funky hairdo in sight. Guess I'll have to keep looking for the scene that suits me.