Picnics are the new brunch
Monday 17 November 2008 by Dr Maytel
Have you noticed since the global economic crisis how magazines and op-eds in lifestyle sections of web pages and other glossies have begun re-spinning the activities of poor people into the new "it" thing, so staying in is the new going out, hillbilly is the new hipster (note to plaid wearers) and locally brewed beer is the new champagne.
So picnics are the new brunch. Who said? Me.....why spend $50 bucks in NYC or more on a flashy brunch when you can sit in the park in Brooklyn, possibly get arrested for drinking a beer in public and eat hotdogs, broccoli rabe and mozzarella sandwiches, jamaican meat pies and drink organic cola and beer.
The best spot in the park, next to the public loos naturally (or "comfort station" as it was so prudishly named). You can even fall asleep in the sun on the grass, something you can't do at a fancy schmancy restaurant. Other people's children are far less annoying in a park.
Here's our hillbilly/hipster picnic
What comes next I wonder? Will Polish be the new French or Spanish? Polyester the new cotton? Fingers the new cutlery? Poor the new rich? Once again I find myself at the forefront of cutting edge trends. Lucky me.
So picnics are the new brunch. Who said? Me.....why spend $50 bucks in NYC or more on a flashy brunch when you can sit in the park in Brooklyn, possibly get arrested for drinking a beer in public and eat hotdogs, broccoli rabe and mozzarella sandwiches, jamaican meat pies and drink organic cola and beer.
The best spot in the park, next to the public loos naturally (or "comfort station" as it was so prudishly named). You can even fall asleep in the sun on the grass, something you can't do at a fancy schmancy restaurant. Other people's children are far less annoying in a park.
Here's our hillbilly/hipster picnic
What comes next I wonder? Will Polish be the new French or Spanish? Polyester the new cotton? Fingers the new cutlery? Poor the new rich? Once again I find myself at the forefront of cutting edge trends. Lucky me.
it's funny when urbanites 'rediscover' things their parents used to do.
people picnic & grill a lot in Cologne, across the social groups.... the city is at its most cosmopolitan in the parks, in summer...
Feels so different to NZ where people only let it all hang out like that in their private back yards, or at the beach.
but in european cities hardly anyone has a backyard so picknicking is how middle and low income people relax and get their vitamin D...
as for dominoes.. hah! We do play mahjong or cards with our friends from time to time...
What makes these activities into a bourgeois parlour game is when they make such a fuss about it, issue special invitations and get dressed up....
Those movie stars should be playing them with family members on cold nights with cuppa soup, mallowpuffs, and plenty of bourbon.