Thursday, August 26, 2010

Without rules, we have nothing

Code words do not work that way!

While I was on my medically enforced sabbatical from Purgatory, a system was developed so that those who are facing the door and can see what is coming could warn those who's cubicles face the wall (like mine does) that one of the Chinns was coming in. A simple declaration of "Man Down" is all the warning needed.

The thing is, this code has become the catch-all for EVERYTHING, whether the Chinns are in or out or in between. Cell phone rings because you forgot to turn your ringer off? "Man Down". Coffee pot is empty? "Man Down". Out of Cheez-its and needing a nosh? "Man Down".

It is (or at least it SHOULD be) a universally accepted fact that code words cannot have too many meanings, or else you have to define which meaning the code word is being used for, and this negates the effectiveness of code words.

Bunch of monkeys on the ceiling, sir! Grab your egg-and-fours and let's get the bacon delivered!

Why is it still Thursday?

2 comments:

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  2. replied to the wrong post there the first time :P

    this post reminded me of a Ravi Zacharias Q&A session where he was quoting a sociologists definition of culture as, "the effort to provide a coherent set of answers to the existential questions that confront all human beings in the passage of their lives." when a woman stormed up to the mic yelling, "Who told you culture is a search for coherence? Where do you get that idea from? This idea of coherence is a Western idea." "Let me ask you this then," he pleaded. "Do you want my answer to be coherent?"

    it's funny and serious all at once, truth is funny that way, seriously.

    found it in a book :) http://books.google.com/books?id=sf52WeAHaVcC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19#v=onepage

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