Bubble Bridge
Recent events have suggested a new potential occupation for me: a bubble bridge.
This week I had lunch with some former co-workers. To be clear, I worked with geeks. They are great to hang with–their discussions are eclectic, eccentric, and often informative. And also often hilarious. Topics at this lunch included:
Power outages (we’ve had a lot of wind around here lately) and which generators, powerwalls, UPSs etc. are best and what should be connected to them
How companies really are going to have to pay people more if they want them to work in offices again to make up for the time lost getting there
Shouldn’t “Infinite Loop” just be “Loop”? Aren’t all loops infinite?
Stories about the worst ways people have been let go from companies (one of the subsets in the popular “can you believe THIS?!” category)
Separately, I have been creating a catalog of my Dad’s writing. He was a professional journalist/author/columnist and saved everything he wrote over 40 years or so. It’s been pretty fascinating reading what he wrote about. Topics include:
The Atomic Bomb and how knowing everything could be destroyed in minutes changed everyone’s sense of safety
What it was like to grow up in a Portuguese family in a neighborhood in San Francisco
Labor unions and conditions they try to address
How water management is key to California politics
Going down south to register “Negro” voters
How no one knew what “ecology” meant when he wrote a book about it
Jazz
“Women’s Lib”
In the meantime, there’s stuff my husband likes to talk about:
Interesting crimes, especially historical
Spirituality
Cartoons
Health
Godzilla
Final Jeopardy
And if I check Facebook (which, yes, I still do, at least for now), I see what Facebook thinks I’m interested in, which sometimes I am (crafts, animal rescues), but sometimes I wonder at. Also postings from friends on topics such as:
People’s pets
Interesting places people live in or have visited
Making America great (possibly again)
Music
Atheism
As I jump around between these situations, I realize I’m experiencing particular bubbles. Different points of view. Different ways people have of looking at the world. Different ways people have of dealing with the world. Their experiences influence points of view and what things they see as important. This insight is hardly earth shattering. Most everyone knows it in the abstract. But many folks are challenged with seeing the world from someone else’s point of view.
That’s where I can come in! I’m lucky to be a part of quite a few different points of view. I will bridge these bubbles! I will assist folks in seeing things from someone else’s point of view. I can lessen confusion and increase understanding! It will be a service to humanity actually (not to brag).
Also, I feel the best way to do this is informally. I’ll have to go out to lunch with a lot more people. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.