Day 38: Seeing Red

I see many interesting things and people on my way to work as I take public transportation or,"åker kommunalt," as they say here in Sweden. Most of the time there is a sea of black around me as we all drift from one train to the next, with a splash of color here and there in the form of a brightly, hued scarf or hat. Occasionally there is a “färgglad”, or colorful, coat floating among the crowd. But for the most part everyone, including myself, is clad in black, or shades of black. I personally like black but most people in Sweden wear it to blend in. No one should stick out too much or make too much of a splash.

As I was coming down the stairs into what I refer to as the dungeon (the tunnel for the blue subway line which is the furthest underground of all of the lines) an older gentleman whizzed past me, sticking out in a red, down jacket, blue jeans and red, leather, tennis shoes. The red tennis shoes really topped it off for me. I don't know exactly why but seeing this older man with grey hair dressed that way made me smile all over. I wouldn’t think twice seeing a younger person here dressed in this manner but when I see older men here in the city they are generally dressed in slacks and a fancy (black, or grey) overcoat. It really brightened my day to see this young-at -heart gentleman in his “färgglad” coat and tennis shoes.

I will admit that it is much more often that I see men wearing brightly, colored clothing in Sweden than in the U.S. Many men here even wear red, skinny jeans. I keep asking Carl when he is going to get a pair of skinny jeans but the farthest he’ll go is really, long shorts (or capris pants) and red crocks.