Sweet Nothing

I’m now long back from Las Vegas. I first went to the US when I was 21 to do my initial training with Andersen Consulting in Chicago. Apart from losing my voice in the plane going there (my first ever intercontinental flight), I remember being amazed at the scale of everything and the “customer is king” culture which everybody seemed to buy into. This US trip was different. For the first time I really found the US to be a small minded and officious place (I’m not sure how much this perception is due to the fact that I’ve lived in “pragmatic France” for the last 10 years or so). There seemed to be an excessive adherence to petty rules, and the whole idea of complete strangers trying to make your life easier and better had completely disappeared. I was most disappointed. However that said, even if you had given me the happiest and most helpful hotel, security and restaurant staff, I doubt whether I would be banging my drum to go back to Las Vegas anytime soon. The weather was lovely and warm, the skies a beautiful clear blue, but the casino atmosphere and “Venice in a box” reconstruction complete with indoor gondolas, didn’t really float my boat. As for the content of the EMC World meeting? It was useful to see the full breadth of what EMC does (much of which I don’t profess to understand), and to see a conference of 15,000 people executed ruthlessly (the catering was a military-esque operation in itself), but the real utility of the event was me being able to take some time with a selection of senior people to get their buy into what I am trying to do following my recent role change. It was just ironic that 95% of this group of people were European and that we had to go to the west coast of America to get some time together. One other thing that struck me during this trip to the US was that anyone who manages to remain thin deserves immense respect; one morning I went for breakfast to McDonalds. I chose the healthy fruit salad option. Apart from it being the smallest meal on the menu by far, when I peeled back the lid, I was shocked to see layer upon layer of sugar suffocating a handful of helpless little strawberries and raspberries. God bless America and its heavily overworked heart surgeons.