Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
While from most people we want frictionlessness, from some we want friction.
Yesterday I hosted a meeting of a book club among colleagues at UC Davis. 20 or so of us gathered in a Zoom room during our lunch hour. Some of them were old friends. One of them I knew back in the 1990s when he worked on campus as an undergraduate, while another had taken her third class with me 20 years ago this past summer. Others I was meeting for the first time.
Our initial discussion was rather meta, for we were meeting remotely to discuss a book titled Remote, Inc.: How to Thrive at Work . . . Wherever You Are by Robert C. Pozen and Alexandra Samuel. Pozen and Samuel assert that by treating one’s boss like a client, and leaning into the autonomy and isolation that can result from the work that white-collar workers do in the ongoing Covid era, one can take advantage of all the technologies that enable our sustained productivity.
While some colleagues had registered to join us weeks ago, a few decided at the last minute to pop into the room. After teaching challenging texts for the last 31 years at UC Davis, I can tell who hasn’t done the reading, but in this case, everyone had something valuable to contribute. It helped that I set up some Zoom polls that gave folks a chance to answer some probing multiple choice questions (writing questions is another strength of mine), each of which prompted discussion.
45 seconds before our group met, I grabbed myself a Muscle Milk from the refrigerator in my kitchen. 30 seconds after I ended the meeting I was standing with my French Bulldog in the back yard, savoring how quickly I could transition from one segment of my life to another.
Today we are used to such frictionless transitions, but it was not always this way. When I was a kid, we used to call a phone number to find out what time it was. We would call a different phone number to learn the weather. If we had more time, we might wait to confirm the accurate time from the radio, or even wait as long as the next day’s newspaper for the weather reports. Now, of course, I could ask Alexa or Siri to provide me the information I needed. If I had an extra 15 seconds, I would flip on a laptop, a phone, or a watch to discover what I needed.
Not only information comes to us frictionless, but also our entertainments. My daughter is a fan of Spotify, while the rest of us listen to music courtesy of Amazon Prime and YouTube. Pretty much any popular or even niche song you might think of could be playing from a device five seconds after you speak its title. Yesterday when I wanted to try out the speakers of my new MacBook Pro, I asked it to play me “Nights in White Satin” by The Moody Blues. Hearing the tune brought back memories of the time when I thought the “Knights” were “moody” because they had to wear white satin on the battlefield. I could call up the song almost as quickly as the memory!
Despite how immediately and frictionlessly we can summon what we want, sometimes we wish to slow down, and make room for friction. My son Truman and I could stream almost any popular film we choose, but we still prefer to walk the shelves at Bizarro World, the comic book store that promises a larger collection of rentable films than what can be found on Netflix. Why? We don’t always know what we want until we stumble across it (which is also true for libraries and brick and mortar book stores). Also, Bizarro World used to provide swag for me to give away at the building next door that used to hold everyone’s favorite Irish Pub, where family pictures still adorn the walls.
At Safeway, I chat with the checker even though that takes longer than letting the mechanical scanner scan and weigh my purchases. I press zero to talk to an operator. I wait in line at Panera or Dos Coyotes, two of my son Jukie’s favorite restaurants, rather than ordering through a convenient app. Once so impatient, I used to drive everywhere before I switched to my bike. Now I walk.
When on these walks, we encounter friends, I stop for a chat, even if I have someplace to be. My friends’ affection and witticisms root me in place. Under such circumstances, even gravity itself seems heavier, like a favorite blanket on a cold day. As a family pet tries to teach you and perhaps your children, sometimes a little friction can be delicious and rewarding. Try it.
My favorite German pen in hand, sometimes I work on filling a notebook with words. Will I write as many poems at this pace, with this ancient technology? Perhaps now, but as Samuel Johnson said, “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” I hope your holiday season is unhurried, and that, like me, you can delight in a bit of friction.
Thanks to all of you who continue to support the pub quiz, especially teams such as Quizimodo, The Original Vincibles, and The Outside Agitators. Agitation can be another sort of welcome friction, especially when the counterfeit peace deserves to be disturbed. If you would like to join us on Patreon, and receive this week’s Pub Quiz, do so at https://www.patreon.com/yourquizmaster. Patrons there will encounter questions on the following topics: lost loves, girl scouts, foreign languages, ancient Romans, CNET, clowns, noble failures, municipal elections, the month of December, traffic mishaps, favorite words, notable athletes, dreams of the Joker, bird watching, superheroes, Irish towns, Anne Frank, times that try men’s souls, assumable progress, metal extraction, sticks and cities, presidential humor, library women, big smiles, The Beatles, best friends, calendars, explorers, conduits, farewell tours, meeting cute, ending repeatedly, current events, and Shakespeare.
Be well, and thanks for reading.
Dr. Andy
P.S. Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:
- Internet Culture. Jack Dorsey has recently stepped down as the CEO of what social medium?
- Lady Godiva. Lady Godiva was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to a legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in what century? Was it the 6th, 11th, 16th, or 20th?
- Famous Brothers. What is the last name of the two brothers who directed Fargo and The Big Lebowski?
P.P.S. “I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.” Paulo Coelho
P.P.P.S. Lucas Frerichs and I will be performing Christmas classics (poetry and prose) at the Natsoulas Gallery in Davis on December 16th at 7. Would you care to join us?