Road Warriors

Here's how I ended up eating sorrel with a group of traveling sales people in Portland, Maine. (Interesting detail: I had a large hunk of stolen gouda in my pocket.)

I started a new job this week, with a nonprofit organization sort of based in Portland. I say "sort of" because some of the staff have an office there, and the rest of us are virtual. So we all came together for a week of coworker bonding.

Last night, my hotel hosted a craft beer tasting event. There are lots of craft breweries in Maine and I was eager to sample the deliciousness. They also had cheeses to pair with the beers. I started chatting with the extremely outgoing guy next to me, and then another person joined in the conversation, and two more...and pretty soon we were making plans for a group dinner. There were 45 minutes of intense deliberation over which of the many amazing restaurants to visit, during which hotel staff and passers by and Siri were consulted, and finally we settled on a seafood place on the harbor called Boone's.

Over a plate of scallops and sorrel and pine nuts and I-don't-know-what-else-but-it-was-amazing, I got to know my newfound friends. Dominic has been selling industrial equipment for 20 years, in a territory that spans from Virginia to Maine, and has burned through no less than 14 company cars. Joan is an account manager for a pharmaceutical company and finished the 2013 Boston Marathon shortly before all hell broke loose. (We raised a toast in honor of the anniversary.) Kevin used to sell cheese and liquor and now he sells a restaurant loan scheme I don't entirely understand, and it's all a big game to him, a game which he loves to win. Blaire grew up in a potato farming region of PEI and he told me - this is a direct quote delivered in all seriousness - "I am passionate about french fries." He was instrumental in bringing the first trans fat free fries into restaurants, and he also knows some alarming information about parasites in cod.

Aside from these distinguishing characteristics, they were all very much alike, and also so different from the people I normally spent time with. I was an anthropologist who had discovered a new tribe. I probably asked an annoying number of questions. And I felt like I was getting away with something, infiltrating their ranks.

Speaking of getting away with something, I should explain the cheese. At the end of the beer tasting,  I saw the hotel staff start to gather the leftover cheese as if they were going to throw it in the garbage. Lord have mercy. So when they were looking the other way, I nabbed the gouda and stuck it in my pocket. I wish I could have rescued the others but they were too gooey. Maybe that's something we have in common...Blaire is passionate about fries, Kevin is passionate about winning, I'm passionate about cheese.