Last night Eva and I tried something new: Curling at Lloyd Center with the Evergreen Curling Club. Now, I’m not referring to hair, but rather to 42 pound stones on ice. Curling is a “sport” that came out of Scotland. It involves sliding heavy stones down the ice and hitting other heavy stones. Oh, yes, it also involves running on the ice just in front of said heavy stones, and sweeping the ice in an attempt to influence where the stone will go.
I will admit that Curling is an Olympic sport, and perhaps, as such, deserves more credit than I’m giving it. On the other hand, going off a cliff on skis is also an Olympic sport — so I’m not sure how good a measure that is.
My point, however, is that Curling is a sport that comes to us mainly via Canada, a country known primarily for its politeness. As such, at the end of each game, everyone on both teams shakes each others’ hands and says “nice curling.”
Admittedly, this is a very good sportsman-like way to play, but feels a little odd in Portland. It’s not that Portland isn’t a friendly city, because it is. Rather, its friendliness tends to be a bit more spontaneous, less ritualized. The personalized greeting rather than the predetermined one. We like to talk to each other, to greet one another. But somehow, it feels false when imposed upon us. To me, anyway…
My favorite example of Portland friendliness is the conversations I have in the checkout line of the supermarket. On the East Coast, these conversations just don’t happen. Here, they are an accepted part of life.
What’s your favorite example of Portland friendliness?
(Editor’s Note: Please welcome Rabbi David to the OurPDX author roster, and stay tuned for more new author posts in the days to come! Betsy)
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My favorite form of friendliness in Portland is how people thank the driver after they get off the bus. I’ve ridden other transit systems throughout the Pacific Northwest, but only in Portland does this behavior seem to be somewhat routine. It’s not universal and it’s not, perhaps, that big, but its something I definitely associate with the Portland region.
First, welcome Rabbi David! Second, I had a boss who’d moved here from the East Coast — and one day, he walked into my office, shut the door, and asked why everyone kept saying “hello” to him, and what did they WANT?
I told him ‘nothing, they’re just nice, really…’ to which he muttered some East Coast obscenities about how they were ‘Keeping Portland (insert expletive starting with an “F”) Weird alright’ and walked out the door.
Thank you rolls off the tongue so easily. It needs to be used so much more. It brings such rewards.
Hi Rabbi David – but was curling fun? I gave my husband curling lessons for Christmas this year (but we don’t have the lessons until March). I love that I can still aspire to go to the Olympics at my age thanks to this sport…
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