In the mid 90's, one of my best friends from college invited me to a USC vs.
Stanford game in Northern Cal. We would drive up in his TR8 and some old frat
buddies of his offered us floor space in their "motel". So I'm thinking Motel
6, dinner at Sizzler, bleachers at Stanford, hopping college bars, back to
Motel 6, and a morning cruise back to Los Angeles in the TR. Space in a TR8
is limited as well as the space in a shared motel, so I packed extremely light
and didn't think to bring anything particularly "nice".
When we arrived in San Francisco, I discovered the address was for the
Embarcadero, a four star hotel. We arrived just in time to join his friends
for dinner. His friends were in coats and ties. Transportation was a
limosene. Embarrassed by my clothing, I slipped away after dinner and sought
my own bar to lose myself in a bottle while they bar hopped. How badly was I
dressed? Well, when I finally got back to the hotel, well after 2 am, the
doorman didn't want to let me in as he assumed I was homeless! And the
alcohol on breath, lack of a key, and a foggy grasp of my hosts' names did not
help! (It took some smooth talking to get to the elevator!)
Early the next morning, I slipped out while my friend and our hosts were
getting dressed for breakfast. I hit a men's clothing store across the street,
that I had eyed the night before, that was just opening their doors. I bought
a whole wardrobe: shoes, socks, pants, belt, shirt, sweater, and a high end
wool jacket. I asked to wear the outfit out of the store. When I returned to
the room, there was a great commotion, as they all wondered how this magical
transformation had occurred! I said, "I like to travel light. That's what
the American Express card is for!"
Turns out, the night before, everyone had assumed that I was just some guy
that worked for their fellow frat buddy. They didn't realize I actually went
to USC and graduated the same year as them! There were many apologies as
everyone assumed they had probably snubbed me to some extent. (Though, in
reality, they had treated me reasonably well despite my Charles Dicken's
attire.)
There is a moral to this story...
I now never fail to bring a wide ranging wardrobe to cover the unknowns. I am
still able to pack quickly, but I don't skimp any more than absolutely
necessary to stay within reason. I've been the target of verbal jabs on the
front end of business trips by fellow employees or employers who chose
carry-ons over suitcases, but then when we discovered that we were actually
going to nice places with VIPs at night, and I actually could dress properly
for each occasion, or foul weather came into play, and I was the only one with
gloves and long johns, etc. Suddenly my medium sized single bag, over their
carry-on bags, etc., didn't seem so bad!
Last year, I worked in New York for a week. Needless to say, I was dressed
right at work and at play, every day, but I only had one checked bag and a
carry-on.
--Justin
On Aug 19, 2013, at 5:15 PM, Mark J Bradakis <mark@bradakis.com> wrote:
> When taking trips, Karen and I pack with quite different styles. She'll fuss
and fret for
> days, getting out her suitcase and putting things in, taking them out, back
in, whatever.
> Me? Open sock drawer - friday, saturday, sunday. Open underwear drawer -
friday, saturday,
> sunday. You get the picture.
>
> We are both planning trips in early September, but different destinations.
She's going off
> with her family on a short vacation in California, I'm heading back to the
Great Flat Spot.
> ( aka east of the Rockies ) But I have a bit of a dilemma. This is a major
event, I should
> probably take some care with my appearance. But seeing as how my ride from
the airport
> in Milwaukee to Elkhart Lake will be in a TR3, I need to pack light.
>
> So I have these nice golf shirts, I should probably take one to augment the
usual array of
> Kastner Cup t shirts. Both nice, bright pink. One has the Ferrari logo on
it. Not a British
> car - I'd stand out in the crowd of Triumph folks for sure, assuming I don't
get beaten
> within an inch of my life with broken fan belts and cracked radiator hoses!
So maybe the
> Jaguar shirt would be a better choice. Decisions, decisions. Wonder if I
have Porsche swag ;-)
>
> Yes, at this point I am planning on attending, showing up thursday night. I
may or may not
> need a ride to the Milwaukee airport sunday, we shall see.
>
> Looking forward to this event and seeing so many of you. Hope my beer money
lasts all
> weekend, I owe a few to various folks.
>
> mjb.
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