Now That’s Exotic
So, recently I was talking with some friends, as I always seem to do, and the talk turned to the exotic. “Why do you always like exotic stuff,” he asked. I couldn’t really answer at the time. I suppose it’s safe to say that I’ve a long running daydream (fantasy if you will) of flipping everybody the proverbial (ok maybe not so proverbial) bird and running away to some far away place. The ultimate adventure to me would be to run off someplace, yes, exotic, and enjoy myself, instead of staying all cramped up in a small office typing all day long. Maybe it’s the tantalizing aspect of being able to see the sun from where I sit but never getting to feel it on my face. I don’t know. There’s just something wild and free about running away to someplace fun.
Some folks speculate that the word “exotic” is what you say when you don’t want to compliment but you don’t know what else to say. “She looks exotic” Isn’t that really a euphamism for “she’s ugly but I don’t want to call her that.?” I suppose some think of exotic as foreign, queer, or just quizical. There’s nothing inheritantly nice about the exotic, unless you are somebody, like me, who craves all things different. To me, I just can’t seem to get enough of all things “exotic” and so the moniker does not carry with it the usual negative connotations.
The trouble comes in when you start to actually experience things. Growing up in NY, I used to think of Mexico as “exotic” now it’s commonplace. Just like social boundaries the label “exotic” is really a moving target. What was obscene yesterday, you can now safely say on TV. So what happens? When you go to Mexico for the four hundredth time does it suddenly become “non-exotic?” Familiar perhaps? I guess. Still, I’ve got only about 350 more times to go before I can lay any claim to “familiar” at all and I’m determined to really enjoy each and every one.
Australia anyone? How about French Indo-China? Maybe outer space? Or back in time? Hmm. Now *that* would be exotic, even for me.
Until next time, this is Carol, the Carol in “Carol’s Little World” signing off.
