The Morning News’ Clay Risen sums up a few aspects of D.C. culture, including “ID chic,” all those government procurement ads, and the peculiar dating scene:
Why do all my single friends have such a hard time meeting people? I don’t have an answer, but I can speculate: young people who move to New York are looking for a better, more exciting life. They want to try anything and everything. No one moves to Washington for excitement, and those who change cities for excitement’s sake would never consider Washington. No, the only people who move here do so for one reason: work. And work they do. Dating, if at all, comes later.
Basically true in my case. Armed with my international relations degree, I had decided to move to Washington to start my international career, whatever that was to entail. The job I ended up taking and currently hold doesn’t involve travel, but at least deals with international topics. While I didn’t come to Washington for excitement per se–the proximity to New York City is nice–the big, post-college, out-to-seek-my-fortune move was itself kind of an adventure. And yes, dating did come later.
Another good recent bit from The Morning News: “The NPR Blooper Reel.”