November 17, 2006
Overheard in D.C.: Cultural Exchange
This week's top quote got us to thinking about what a shame it is that the rest of the world is so in the dark about our country. Yes, I know that the Washington Post pointed out this morning that that there is a Bubba's Texas-Style Bar-B-Que and Saloon in Hongqiao, China, but surely that must be an isolated case. With a culture that offers as much depth and richness as our own, why is it that we can't seem to get the attention of the international community? With the Democrats back in control, I can only hope someone spearheads an effort to raise awareness of our shy and modest nation far and wide, so that someday, there might be a neighborhood in Beijing that is just as authentically American as D.C.'s own Chinatown is Chinese.
Quote of the Week
Waiting for a bus to NYC at 6th & Eye:
Guy: "This bus stops in Chinatown, right?"
Girl: "Yup"
*Pause for about 30 seconds*
Guy: "Do you think there's, like, an Americatown in China?"
After the jump, gossipy greeks, lost in the tunnels, and friendly slurs.
Thanksgiving means turkey, mashed potatoes, and plenty of overheard gems from your drunk uncle Lou. Keep a pen and paper handy next week; between all the traveling and a few days at home with family, there's sure to be plenty to hear. Send it all to overheardindc (at) gmail (dot) com.
Photo by Flickr user andrewhughes.
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From the WB's newest prime time soap opera, The Greeks.
A group of frat boys at GW:
"Yeah, and now Marissa's gone? And it's like, whatever, her little sister? Yeah, no, totally not as cool as Marissa."
"And Rachel Bilson? Like, I don't even know."
"And now Ryan's all like a cagefighter? Whatever, I mean, for real!"
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Why I've always been a firm advocate for flashing neon entry gates.
Man standing in entrance area of Pentagon City station:
"But how do we get INTO the metro station?"
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I'm sure that's exactly how they'd like to market themselves.
Heard while walking in Georgetown during lunch:
Older man (father?): "We could go here." [points to Le Madeleine]
Younger girl (Daughter?): "Where? Here?"
Older man: "Yeah - is it a sort of French cafe?"
Younger girl, unsure and interrupting: "Uh - it's sort of like Panera."
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He learned tact from George Allen.
In Columbia Heights:
Straight guy to other straight guy: You are such a homo! And I mean that in a nice way. [pause] To gays.
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What, J.C. Penney isn't good enough for you?
Girl 1: I need to buy some winter clothes. Are there Mervyn's on this
coast?
Girl 2: What the fuck is Mervyn's?
Girl 1: Nope.
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He he, Mervyn's. Every once in a while, what I call the "coastal cultural divide" pops up in conversations with my girlfriend, who grew up out here. Like I'll say, "We could get you an awesome deal on a laptop at Fry's," and she'll respond, "Fry's?"
There is a neighborhood in Osaka called American Village (Amerika Mura), so the first comment may not be as dumb as you think.
Seriously, that question is not nearly stupid enough to warrant being on the front page. Try harder next time.
Butttt, It is pretty stupid, considering that rapidly-developing counties like China are doing all that they can to become like America. Do streets filled with Startbucks and McDonalds count? If so, China has more than a few Americatowns.
One time my roommate and I were walking by a Panera and we heard a guy giving a tour to his family or something. He said, "And this here is Panera, it's a little French bakery, and it's really good."
Seriously, for a minute...
How does this coast function without a Fry's? I've come to understand that Best Buy is like toyland for men, and Circuit City does the job in a pinch, but if you only knew how thrilling Fry's was... it's practically orgasmic! Okay, maybe it's not that good, but I just miss it. And how cool is it that each store has a different theme?
J from ca: We hit a Frys in California (San Diego or LA) and we were totally blown away! The building was literally a freaking castle and had more electronic/music stuff than any lame-ass Best Buy ever had. I understand why you miss it.
I used to work for a firm that did a ton of design for entire towns and neighborhoods in China. Despite the abundance of architecture firms in China they hired us because Americans can design American looking buildings. So American sprawl is spreading (exponentially) to the developing suburbs of Beijing. There are neighborhoods designed to look like New England, Charlestown, Brooklyn...........gross.
Why hasn't DC1974 chimed in with information about Fry's and the wonders of California yet? You alright there bud?
There's a Thames Town in Shanghai.
The Chinatown bus is such a bad idea, especially when Greyhound tickets to NYC are $35 round trip.
I love the Chinatown bus. Even if the price difference is negligible, it's worth it just for the stories you get to tell afterwards.
Greyhound lacks the personality of the Chinatown bus...plus I hear angry stories of cancelled and overbooked Greyhound buses far more often than Chinatown...
A friend of mine in Shanghai is always being taken to Little New York to eat "Western Buffets" in China. You think it's a joke, but it's completely real. Do a google search on "Western Buffet." It's all chinese style Anglo food, like Peach Pizza with cream (They don't eat cheese).
My ex worked at a Fry's in Atlanta, and she took me there to see what it was like the last time I was passing through the area since we're still on decent terms and all. I was surprised at how large the place was and the entire variety of electronic stuff you could find there! Amazing!
yeah, you've got a point. but i ride the bus back and forth between DC and NYC so often I don't want any more stories to tell. I just want to catch the bus on time, sleep for 4 hours, wake up, and be where I want to be without any problems.
By the way, "orgasmic" is exactly the term I would use to describe Fry's. The theme of the Fry's in my last home-town was "big, ugly warehouse," I didn't even know that just about every other Fry's had an actual theme. I can safely say that Fry's is the best place in the country to buy just about anything that plugs in. If I had a nickel for every time I wished there was a Fry's out here... I'd have a great big sack of nickels.
Wow, thems some endorsements. Where is the closest Fry's?
Having grown up in the NY metropolitan area, I still fondly remember Nobody Beats the Wiz and Crazy Eddies. Maybe they weren't as good as Fry's (Crazy Eddies definitely wasn't, but it was before the age of huge electronics stores), but they had awesome names, and awesomely terrible commercials. (Who remembers Patrick Ewings rap about toys for grown girls and boys?)
Commercials notwithstanding, NBTW was awful. How can one "fondly" remember it? Never shopped at Crazy Eddie's because he was so insane he forgot to pay taxes. Oops!
"Commercials notwithstanding, NBTW was awful. How can one "fondly" remember it?"
The closest NBTW to me was one of the later big box models, so it was probably better than the average. It had a pretty good selection of low to high end stereo equipement and it opened right as I went through my teenage audiophile phase.
To be fair, the customer service at Fry's is TERRIBLE. But you can't really complain when you're getting everything on the cheap.
Matt: The terrible customer service is part of what makes Fry's so much fun. I'd never send my Mother there to buy a computer part, but it's always amusing to me to hear the salesdrones tell me why or why not a particular computer part won't do what I'm looking for. I've always come back with a story about how a PCIe card will work just fine on my motherboard, because PCIe is just like PCI, only smaller, so it'll fit right into the same slot...