OK. I had sorta, kinda planned on doing a post on elevators..... not that I have a deal about elevators..... but I have gotten to dread them.I work in an office that makes using elevators necessary. We have both the third and fourth floors and most of the second. My desk is on the fourth.... I need to vist 2nd alot and am currently doing a project that places me on 3rd frequently..... and the goddam stairwells are way on the opposite end of the building. I have to use the elevators as an expedient.
So I had this rant I was gonna do on idiots and elevator etiquette... you know.... the morons who try to 'get on' before anyone can get off... who play their fucking Ipod so loud it gives off vibrations, who can't fucking wait to get off the elevator before using their cell phones.
Anyways.
ME..... from Bad Habits throws out a rhetorical question....
What if......
She mentions a French/American affairs blog where I first met her.... It was the first blog I had ever read. From there I met an incredible Native American artist who lives in New Mexico. Two years later ME and Joanne are still my friends. And, rather like popcorn, one blog leads to another, and another... and two years later I have met people from Indiana, and Cleveland and Portland and Kentucky and Iowa,California,St. Louis ...... and some folks I really am not sure 'where' they are, or where they might be from.
... and for the most part..... I really don't care. To me, it is alot of folks reaching out in search of truth, common ground, humanity, a little love (&an occasional beer)
That is all what it is about. Done&Done. Straight up stuff. I don't care if they are gay or straight or what religion they are or aren't----- if they eat meat or not.
I grok a goodness in connectivity. All good.
So what if the fucking-wingnut hadn't starting tell those stupid 'French' jokes two years ago in the car pool? What if I hadn't checked out that vile blog he recommended with all the idiot racist jokes and hadn't met Joanne who was there commenting on what idiots they were and telling them to check out a great French/American blog by Denis Chazelle http://superfrenchie.com/ ?
Aw, beats me!
And what if I hadn't met her on that bridge ten years ago only to realize it was ten years too late?
She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin' away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
Tangled up in blue.
I guess pushing the right button on the elevator is more important than I thought.
15 comments:
Okay, I'm stupid.
Hey, everyone just shut up.
WTF is 'grok?' Seriously.
I loathe the fuckers that try to jam into the elevator before the riders can get off. And all you young people, 18 and 19 years olds, I don't see a broken leg. PLEASE take the stairs from 1 to 2. I'm only using the elevator because I have a wheelie cart of books. Thanks.
I feel bad that you've met people from Cleveland. Horrible city, moron inhabitants, bad orchestra. Many sporting championships, though.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
first used in Robert Heinlein's book, Stranger in a Strange Land.
'To grok is to share the same reality or line of thinking with another physical or conceptual entity. In Heinlein's view of quantum theory, grokking is the intermingling of intelligence that necessarily affects both the observer and the observed.'
Hey, It's really a neat book, Randal. First published in 1961. It is still one of the most incredible SciFi books ever. There is a original manuscript version available. Check it out..... I really hate to make recommendations... but you, I think you may like it. He mixes religion, sociology, politics....etc.
Rather than comment, I shall grok this post in fullness.
Elevators are scary places, especially when populated with clowns. Stairs are good for anyone if your going one or two flights, even those of us nearing 60. The BEST science fiction is political. And my hair is getting frizzy.
Oh man...SF's blog. Good times and bad times. But you were all about the good times, kiddo.
And then elevators...When I worked in the Loop in a building across the street from Union Station, I dreaded that trip on the elevator. For one thing, I worked on the floor directly below all the execs of the company I worked for (Union Carbide) and when I was pregnant with my first child, those execs used to just reach out (without even asking) and feel my stomach to see if the baby would move. I can't tell you how disgusted I was by someone I didn't even know, groping at my pregnant belly every morning. And I couldn't say a thing about it, they were the big company honchos that I needed to be nice to so I can keep my job and health insurance. Now they might call that sexual harassment, back then it was everyday at the office.
When we lived in RI I used to drive past the Otis Elevator main office and always wondered why it occupied a big, single storey building. I'm more than 60 and still use the stairs :-)
I grok what you say about intertube relationships.. we grow (well, I don't but most everybody else does).
btw: It was the only Heinlein book worth reading.
I grok this post and those who comment upon it. Okjimm you are the best!
okjimm, elevators are both functional and scary, like airplanes, they take us to far places that, under our own effort, would be difficult to reach. Blogging is a bit like that, too. It get to go places I'd otherwise never have visited. Of course, I've met some in the real world (ala Diva and the NY bloggers), but that would never have taken place without the blogger introduction.
@susan, Otis! My man!
okjimm, I'll have to check that book out. I think the newest stuff I've read is Proust.
Wowsers.... glad you guys liked the post..... trying to get some junk done at the office before the weekend starts and I have a migraine that won't quit.
Do try the book, Randal, parts are kind of dated (1961) but I think some of his concepts may have some interest.
Grok peace.
I'm afraid the elevator is not going to stop but just plummeting down and down until it hits bottom and breaks both my legs or crushes my skull against the ceiling.
But the rest of the post confused me. Are you getting married?
25th Floor.......
Oh, my dear Scarlet.....No. There was a chance encounter ten years ago that brought back memories of the same chance encounter ten years before that was a reduex of an encounter ten years before that encounter.... if anyone is counting. :) I am just a simple man with a complex past. I hope your gainful employment is gainful&stuff!
Ghost.... wowsers... I only deal with floors two through four..... at twenty-five I would have to have my shoes off to count and multiply. No onw on the elevator could tolerate such math!
blood on the tracks is one of my favorite albums
as for elevators --- the ones i go up and down (to the 9th floor) -- have those annoying screens with ads and stock quotes
at home i walk to the 2nd floor
I'm delighted that you pushed those buttons.
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