Vignettes Of Orlando

Come January and the professional dirt busters gather in networking communion under the sunshine of Orlando. Could it be that with the northern hemisphere reeling under a severe winter, the possibility of hitting a golf course or a late afternoon jog by a lake brought droves of cleaning folks to the Sunshine State? Nah, it was all about business and networking! (wink, wink).

But, this post has nothing to do with the machinations of corporations in closed door meetings or what the future beckons for the humble housewife and her suds. It is about the state of being of a cultural cornucopia that is America.
I just soaked in the fleeting glimpses of the American life and am trying to distil them here. The super-size-everything phenomena, capitalism in all it's glory and the pursuit of the American dream caught my eye more than anything else. Yes, three topics, one blog post and hopefully, five comments !

It used to be the land of the prosperous middle class and their American dream. I was more amazed by how ubiquitous Starbucks and their super large coffee cups are - how a normal human being can gulp down almost a litre of coffee in one go is a modern day miracle. The only thing shrinking in this land is the level of service in all airlines. When all food chains are going up on serving sizes, why are airlines going the other way ? No wonder they are going bankrupt ! The American obsession with size is visible everywhere - SUV cabs, desserts, supermarket aisles !

Enough and more has been said on the state of the American economy, but what struck me most was the strength of its capitalist roots. Advertising is all about driving consumption and competitive as hell. Microsoft even had a full page ad in USA Today trashing Google's new privacy policy and why consumers should switch to Bing. And heaven help you if you choose not to pay gratuity at a restaurant or to a driver, after being overtly reminded if it had slipped your mind. Orlando, being the vacation darling of the US, has a huge infrastructure supported mostly by recent immigrants. I ran into a Turk, a Pakistani and a Haitian - all immigrants chasing the American dream, which feels more chimerical with every passing day. Possibly, capitalism teaches well living beyond your resources, with the hope that the American ingenuity will create those resources one day. Yes, this is also the land of eternal optimism! Infact, a recommendation also came my way - The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley, to get over the doom and gloom scenarios prevalent in business and social commentaries these days.

Yes, it was sunny and nice and I missed the golf, the run, the Seaworld and the Disneyland ..... Orlando could not seduce me enough to go beyond the business at hand.