Lately a post entitled “Scenery” from me could just as likely be about trees or wildlife or a sunset, with my Project365 posts. But today I’m talking about a different kind of scenery, the member of the opposite sex kind…
Going to scientific conferences is always interesting in the variety of people you see. Do you stereotype the career scientist as perhaps a little disheveled, absent-minded, fashion-ignorant, maybe a little socially inept? Well, in some cases, you’d certainly be correct, but just like any other profession, the stereotype can also be oh-so-wrong.
It all started on the flight from Phoenix to Orange County Airport, or rather, when we were exiting the airplane. I was still in my seat and a young lady seated behind me was getting her poster tube from the overhead bin when it slipped from her hands and bonked me on the head. No big deal, I was fine and she apologized profusely. I had a similar poster tube and made some remark about where she might be going with that. Now I’m no dummy, so when I see the opportunity to chat with a very pretty young lady, I’ll see if she’s receptive to small talk. It turns out that she’s attending this meeting for the first time and is happy to hear from someone who’s been attending for several years. We chat for a while, until we’ve retrieved our bags and go our separate ways.
Of course, being the dumb ass that I am, I forgot to get her name 
Sunday I spent part of my day wandering the exhibit hall and poster sessions. Unlike the fairly conservative atmosphere I usually work in, it was nice to see women in skirts, dresses, and the like. Never mind the women who as sales reps for some of the exhibitors. I think some of them are more models than salespeople, in order to attract attention. Though I have to admit, it kinda works!
Seriously thought, while it’s nice to admire some of the ladies, there are some who need a little polite reminder that they’re not dressing for a night out at a club. There were a few young ladies showing a bit too much cleavage, or a a bit too much leg, or whose clothes where a bit too form-fitting, to really be taken seriously. There is dressing professionally, even dressing professionally AND looking damn good in the process, but then there is dressing slutty. And while Veronica and I have embraced the idea of being sluts or as we prefer, Sexually Festive, there is a time and a place to dress that way. A professional society meeting, where you (and more importantly, your work) is literally being judged, is not the place, however.
I almost forgot to mention, I saw the poster-tube assailant again, in the exhibit hall. Her name is Rachel, and she knows how to dress 
