I hiked the North Loop on Mount Charleston a few weeks ago, following the trail up to a 3,000-year-old Bristlecone pine tree. It’s magnificent. And while I’m standing there admiring it, a few guys wander up wearing Zappos T-shirts.
We talk for a while, and I ask them about the Zappos shirts. Turns out they work there, and they’re my neighbors (Greenspun Media Group is within spitting distance of Zappos’ headquarters). One is a programmer and the other works on search engine marketing initiatives, so it isn’t long before we’re standing in the shade of this ancient tree talking about open source code, SEM strategies and my feeble efforts to find filthy lucre on the Internet.
Suddenly, I pause. Look at them. What the fuck are we doing talking about this crap. With a smile and a nod, we continue our separate ways, lost in the beauty of the refreshing desert mountains and the bristlecone pine.