Most of us wear things which provide subtle clues about our personalities. Maybe it’s a favorite band tee, or the company logo emblazoned across a polo shirt. Our preferred brand of jeans or a shirt advertising where we’ve been are also communicators of who we are as people.
I got to thinking about this after being forcefully, but oddly enough, quite happily shoved onto a metro at the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in June. More than 350,000 fanatics were in attendance over this thrilling three-day event. I suspect 349,000 used Montreal’s rail system.
We jammed into train cars, which were definitely over capacity. But as we stared at each other, squashed and tired, chatting away in French and German and Spanish and English, one thing was immediately clear. We were all communicating which team we supported without saying a word.
Whether it was a hat, jacket, t-shirt, or water bottle, nearly everyone sported a logo. Ferrari Red. Papaya McClaren orange. Red Bull navy blue. Mercedes black, gray, and green. Just to name a few. I might not have understood what the person squeezed against me was saying, but we were all clearly communicating our passion for the sport, our excitement over witnessing the speed of the cars, the athleticism of the drivers, and the sheer joy of being surrounding by others with the same enthusiasm for Formula 1.
Where we were and what we were wearing mattered over those three days. And we wore it well.
A reminder that language is merely one form of communication.
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