Portland, Day 1: While riding my bike to work, I pulled up next to a woman carrying a big container on a bike sled. Normally I wouldn't talk to people, but I was feeling Portland-y, so I said "Good morning", and then, after a societally acceptable pause, I asked if anything interesting was in the box. "Vacuum cleaner", she says. "I'm going to work". I paused, looked away, then looked back and said "I was about to say 'that sucks', but then I thought better of it." She chuckled, then said "Oh, it's not so bad." I paused again. "No, you see, because it's a vacuum cleaner." She chuckled again. The light turned green and pulled away.
Portland.