Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Being 78 r.p.m. in a 33 r.p.m. world.

The world we live in was designed for people at the left-end of a bell-curve. It's slow. Docile. Dumb.

Not long ago I saw a sign on the doorway of a retail store. It said "Push In." Is there another way to push? At a construction site in my neighborhood there is a sign posted by the builder. It says in big type: "Workplace Rules." The first bullet-point beneath that sign says "These are the rules for the workplace." When I attempt to pick-up my voicemail, I push my extension and security code in too fast for the system. So I have to do it twice.

There are millions of instances like the above. Some Orwellian. Some just dumbwellian.

By the way, here's a picture I saw in the NYTimes today. I guess this is how we protect ourselves against terrorists.


It included this caption: A security worker served coffee to the stranded in Michigan last December. Steps like these may ease difficulties for travelers.

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