JC and friends

Already by late Tuesday, our schedule has well and truly settled into that of a group of real Southern Europeans. Lunch was at 4pm and by the time we sit down for dinner, it’s easily 9.30. We are fortunate to be in the company tonight of 3 young locals. It’s their choice of restaurant, a little French Bistrot tucked away in a gastro area of Madrid, and spirits are high as it’s somewhere they’ve always meant to try but never got ‘round to it.

They greet us warmly and as our host, affectionately known to his friends as J.C., is a friend of Coco’s, we’re instantly made to feel as if among friends. J.C. heads up the Alumni committee at the American school in Madrid and is studying to become a primary school teacher. Carmen works in HR management for a big hotel chain and Matthew, a French teacher in the American school with J.C., is happy that he can do what he is able to do: teaching French.

Tapping into the dreams of our new found friends, we were confronted with a group of young adults who had and were embracing all the opportunities and encouragement their parents had adorned them with. When pushed, individually, to think about what they’d do and where they’d be had they the chance to be somewhere else in life – anywhere, living out their ultimate aspirations – anything, they all react in a similar manner and sit back to relax fully into contemplative mode. Matthew raises his glass to ponder the thought with the aid of some red, J.C. places both his hands on the edge of the table and Carmen raises her hand to rest her chin on clenched fingers. Matthew honestly loves what he does. But then he pauses and, starting to squint, he tells me without hesitating he’d become an aid worker in Africa. Or a political activist, trying to help people; making a difference. Carmen instantly raises a point, one of which is currently of high interest in European Parliament, and talks of aspirations to improve the employee working conditions in Spain. And J.C. honestly is where he wants to be and doing what he loves. I know from Coco that he’s extremely dedicated and that he often dreams at night about what his classroom will look like and where his young children will sit, once he’s qualified. Then, out of the blue and more than half way through the meal, he turns to me after we’d been conversing separately with other’s around the table, and declares - he’d really love to open a scuba diving school and help people learn to dive.


J.C.’s first watch and the one he still wears proudly, is the one he bought himself with his hard earned first pay check on Madison Ave, whilst working in New York. The reason for the purchase was that he wanted to replace the watch his late mother had given him but still keep the memory and this one resembled it, and yelled style at the same time. It’s a square, white steel DKNY. He loves this watch which instantly recalls an era full of memories from bygone days when he lived in the Big Apple, and of course, his mother. Without it, he would feel naked. No numbers, no date, no second hand: details on time he doesn’t need, details on time don’t matter. ‘Unless you have to catch a train, perhaps’. He tells me that ‘a watch is like perfume. You change it with the day and your mood. And occasionally you find a special one that you hold onto for a while and it reminds you of something. Or someone. It means something special. But it’s more for those memories than for anything else. Time you can find anywhere’.

And Carmen? She doesn’t wear one at all and hasn’t for years. ‘What for? Because you find the time everywhere and have it on your mobile in case you don’t see the clock of a nearby church, your p.c. or a watch shop. If you’re meeting a friend after work, you meet them ‘after work’, whenever that may be’. A similar sentiment to that of Matthew, who is wearing a white steel Swatch Chrono. “It doesn’t look special, but it doesn’t look bad either”, he claims with no emotions for this accessory which for him serves a functional purpose only. ‘Time doesn’t matter here in Spain, you get there when you get there and your friends will still be there’. ‘When you wear a watch you feel pressured to watch it. You find yourself counting the minutes and running when it tells you to run’. When asked why he wears this particular Swatch? ‘I picked it up to buy it because I liked the design. I didn’t even know what it was before I was buying it’. ‘I have 3 at home, all for different clothes, for different moods. Today I didn’t care. I picked this one up and went to work, that’s all.’

Conversation continued to flow and dinner continued until well into the evening and the concept of time…? Apparently not so much of an issue for these 3 and their friends in Spain. The lack of which however made up for in abundance of spirit.

What we found these three younger “Xplorees” had in common with the older ones is they are very open-minded. They have moved around a lot, they still want to and they are very open to differences. So in thinking of something that could regroup all these potential consumers I would think: Open your mind, explore the world, and see things in a different way. Also, the fact that none of them admit to being attached to material things or brands: They always say that most of their significant possessions have a sentimental reason attached. When venturing a little further in conversation about brands, and what they mean to this group, it could be interpreted that they'd pay attention to a brand if it had something interesting to say - like a strong message for example, on life; something broader than the product in itself. They'd then feel a connection to it, would be drawn to listen and probably consider.