I Thought It Was Just Me
Two times in the last 24 hours, the question of what it common behavior and what isn’t has come up for me. I’m not talking about truly twisted behavior or anything…just those little things you do during your day that you never think to bring up, so you never know if everyone does it or if it’s just you.
Feel The Force Flow Through the Door
Exiting Walgreens last night with Jet during some errands ran while Moonshot taught piano lessons, Jet asked, “So, when you go through an automatic door, do you ever wave your hand like you’re using the Force to open it?”
“Of course,” I laughed. “Moonshot makes fun of me…but I figure it’s pretty common.”
Jet chuckled. “That’s what I thought too, but I brought it up during a stand-up show the other night and everybody looked at me like I was an idiot.”
“Maybe they just didn’t want to admit it.”
“I thought of that,” he continued, “I was like, ‘Come on, guys, you know you do it when you don’t think anybody’s looking,’ and they just kept staring. Even the other comedians…real geeks, were shaking their heads.”
So, now I’m curious. Could it be that my brother and I are rare in this quirk. Surely the geek-laden readership of Impish Gren can relate to this behavior. I mean…if not Star Wars…Harry Potter? Do you make the swish noise like a Star Trek door? Anything?
Time Warp
It sometimes amazes me how skilled the human brain is at pushing astounding details to the background once they have become commonplace. We live in mind-boggling times, with almost magical devices and tools at our disposals. And we tend to just muddle through and relegate all this wonder to the sidelines.
Today on the Straight Dope Message Boards, someone brought up their habit of pretending to have conversations with historical figures…explaining the world around us to this illusionary person. I thought, “I do that too!!” and was amazed at the number of responses this conversation garnered. Then I recalled that Cheeseburger Brown had written something about this on his old blog and I ran over there to refresh my memory. Not only had he written about this habit…he did so exactly 2-years ago to the day. (What is it about July 10th that causes this sort of thinking?)
Anyway, since none of my readers took part in either of these other discussions, I wanted to bring it up here. Do you do anything similar?
I tend to do this while driving. I just pretend someone…often Newton, Ben Franklin, or some other historical figure of which NPR has recently made me think, is in the passenger seat. I try to imagine what about the scenery would snag their attention first and try to explain it as best as I can. This invariably leads to breaking things down to their basic parts since it’s tough to talk about an iPod without a lot of other details. Electricity, digital data storage, speakers, modern musical trends, and on and on. It’s cathartic to look at some small aspect of my day with new eyes and really ask why.
When I’m at home, the game takes a different form. I pretend that some common item has magically transported itself back in time. I ask myself what would someone from 1980 think about this item? 1950? 1900? How far back in time would my wristwatch have to go before someone said, “What the Hell?” My cell phone? My shoes? My toothbrush? Magazines and Norah’s picture books are excellent for this game. How far back in time would this picture need to go before someone recognized it as being from the future? And once they realized it was from the future…what could they deduce from it? How ‘bout this one? or this one? Literally...just about any random picture. I look at car design, fashion trends, building materials. What would be familiar? What would be unrecognizable?
One commenter on Straight Dope mentions that he plays the visitor from the past game with his daughter. Has her explain things to Thomas Jefferson as portrayed by dad. I’m filing that away for future use with Norah.
Anyway, do you do anything similar? Variations on the themes? Or are you just shaking your head…astounded at the eccentricities of this gren?
17 comments:
I say "open sesame" to the automatic doors and then stomp and repeat myself if it doesn't open right away. Moonshot and I once stood quietly at a door that was not an automatic door. She got there a split second before I did so I deferred to her automatic door opening ritual which seems to be just waiting for the door:).
I don't talk to historical figures, but I did try to explain the concept of a fax to my grandma once. That was really hard since I barely knew how they work. I figured that I didn't have to be too accurate taking into account that sometimes she would ask me to warm the leftovers up in the TV rather than the microwave. Boy, I miss my grandma!
Wow..reading this I am speechless. What are you talking about? Just kidding.
My ritual is just waiting for the door to open...pretty lame huh?
:) Hope everyone is well in your home!
Elsa - "Open Sesame" isn't my approach...but I can get behind that. At least it acknowledges the magical properties of the automatic door.
I tried to explain the Internet to my Grandma once. She nodded alot and seemd interested...but I'm pretty sure she was just being polite ;)
Anna - Next time you come to an automatic door...go ahead and use some magic on it. It's empowering.
Thanks for the health wishes. We're almost back to normal here. Moonshot is about 80%...which is a huge improvement. Still tired, but not achey anymore. I tink the end is in sight and still no sign of round two in me. But then...it could be waiting for me to really get my hopes up. So, I'm playing it cool.
Not sure I follow...are you saying that the door is opening on it's own...without the force? pfff
Using the force to open the door, no. Explain modern things to fictional people... YES!
I read the Clan of the Cave Bear series in high school so I often find myself explaining things to the main character. How would she view the world and how much would have I have to explain to someone who knows nothing but living in caves? It's mind boggling yet fun! :)
Hell, not just the Force hand waving thing and the Star Trek squeaky door noise... I also utter a silent "doo-doo-doo" to myself as I flip open my cell phone, a la Trekkie communicator. It's the rest of the world that's a bunch of freaks! (Louis' comment sort of summed that up.)
(That third picture you linked is a dead give-away for the future. Everybody knows that Canadians of east Asian heritage can levitate nowadays.)
I don't get in the habit of talking to specific historical figures, but I do quietly reason things out to an utter ignoramus. This often happens while driving or performing a relatively complex task at work and wondering to myself how I'd make it make sense to someone who had no clue. I'm a little chagrined that the image that pops into my head most often is that of my Australian CEO. I think Dilbert is having an overt influence on me in this regard.
To answer your question: yes, I am astounded at the eccentricities of this Gren, for sure, but not for the reasons mentioned in this post.
:)
Never the force hand wave, but the occasional Star Trek door sound.
My favorite "pretend to use the force" move is when there's a pencil or some similar object just out of reach, and I remember Luke when he was hanging upside-down and "forced" his light saber into his hand. I curl my fingers into that shape and make my hand tremble.
It's pretty sweet, really, but Shannon just rolls her eyes at me.
Just imagine, Mark... Shannon gets so exasperated that she picks up the pencil and hands it to you.
That right there is a successful use of the Force! Score!
Louis - I know...there are crazy folks out there that put their faith in quackery like science. I don't get it.
Hokey - I would think going back that far would would actually make it a bit easier. Just say it's all magic and wave your hands in a spooky fashion. I've never tried to explain things to someone who predates the scientific method.
Simon (1) - Yes, the levitation was the main clue, but in additon, the fact that they named the building "Jeff" is a pretty good indicator as well. That's a fairly new trend.
And thanks for not admitting that the ignoramus you usually explain things to is me.
Mark - I do that trick with the remote control from time to time. I look forward to teaching Norah to respond by bringing it to me in a floaty type way.
Simon (2) - I shall try this method tonight. I'll use my Force Persuasion on Moonshot when she's just about to do something anyway. If she's bringing me a glass of water...I will command her to do so with my mind at the last minute. I predict that I get slugged by the second time I do it ;)
Oh, and if you're reading this now, Moonshot...[waves hand] you don't need to remember what you have read here.
Funny door story, I share this b/c I loathe this woman. The person that convienced my Father to get married again thought a door was automatic, and she was flapping her mouth as usually and plowed into the door and then fell backwards. 2 things made this funny. 1. I hated her 2. She deserved it.
Any who, I have thought about what people would think of the future, but actually carrying on a conversation with a dead person, who are you? Mrs. Kleo? Next time you talk to Sam Adams, tell him I like his Winter Brew!
someone who predates the scientific method
What, like a global warming enthusiast?
I'm joking!
Sort of.
OBTW, I do the force thing all the time, particularly when the door has been open but is closing even though I'm approaching. Some doors are really dumb, and have to go through the whole close and reopen cycle even after you're clearly in sensor range. I almost got my face smashed in an airport yesterday.
Not even a week ago I caused a scene at work standing in front of a (regular) door into a lab with a sticky mat (for dirt, germs, particulates, etc. in case you're not familiar with Clean Room crap)... I stomped on the mat a couple of times and announced to those behind me that the door was broken again. I got a couple weird looks until some other bystanders started to laugh.
I read a lot of Southern Historical novels. And I read the dialogue aloud in the appropriate accents.
Furthermore in the coincidental sense, I tried my first bottle of Sam's Winter Brew last weekend. Only mildly disappointed...
Remember Moksha, Force powers only work on the weak-minded. I don't think you'll be able to convince Moonshot to forget what she may have read here.
Take a picture of your black eye for us, would you?
:)
I don't use the Force, no, but I do like to steadily advance toward the door - no hesitation - and even maybe a little faster than I usually walk, like I'm a really cool person from the future to whom automated doors are so common she doesn't even notice them. (Of course, some automated doors being programmed for opening a little more slowly than others, I sometimes regret that quick approach... at least I never banged my head or anything, though I did have to walk back a little once or twice I think).
Explanations and descriptions directed at historical figures? Sure, if your description of historical figures is vague enough to include characters out of fantastic literature. Diarmuid from the Tapestry is a favourite, in my personal twist where he got back with us to our world - just Thursday, alone on a 1h30 ride back from Montreal, I've explained to him the whole deal with cars, highways and general road indications.
Moksha, do you actually post on the SDMB or are you just a lurker like me?
Mouse - Just a lurker. If I paid to post..I'd feel compelled to post. And then I'd waste even more time over there and Moonshot and Norah just don't need another web distraction in my life ;)
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