TGIF: Everything’s amazing but nobody’s happy March 27, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.trackback
It’s amazing how quickly the week slips away. I was busy doing nothing for the first half and got slammed with work again towards the end of the week. I honestly had wanted to write more than one proper post this week. I’m amazed it’s already Friday. I will be working again over the weekend, so I suppose I shouldn’t truly be celebrating the fact that it’s Friday…
But it *is* Friday and that means it’s time for another video. This one made me really laugh. It’s not at all language-related, but I am confident we can all relate. Technology has been improving at an amazingly fast rate. I remember having a “party line” as a kid. No, it wasn’t one of those 1-900 chat line numbers. We shared a phone line with the neighbor across the street. That meant we had to lift the receiver to see if someone was on there and wait until they were done to make our call. If you had an emergency and needed to call home and your neighbor was on the line you had to have the operator break into the call. Yes, that was back in the day when they still employed people to help you make phone calls. All this on a rotary phone, so I particularly enjoyed his intro. In fact, my nieces were fascinated by my parents’ rotary phone when they were really young. They’ve outgrown it now – just like we have. I hope you enjoy this clip!
Click on it twice to pull it up on Youtube.
Musings from an overworked translator 
I had seen this clip once before but it is funny no matter how many times I watch it. I had a rotary phone as a kid that hung on the wall and a phone number with two 0s! I remeber it as if it were yesterday. My my how things change. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go unpack my new iPhone 😉
Hi Jill,
I just stumbled onto your blog and have enjoyed your entries. I loved this video and laughed aloud especially at the rotary phone comments. I also really related to the “Stranger in a Strange Land” that you talked about in another one of your entries (BTW, have you read Bill Bryson’s Stranger in a Strange Land”, about his experiences moving back to the States after living in Britain for 20 years, I read it right after we moved back and could relate to everything completely). I’ve been back in the states for 11 years since moving back to Germany and am thinking about going back for a few years so my son can experience a foreign language immersion experience. But I hesitate because I love my house, have space, a large yard, yes, a good bed and nice furniture, a workspace outside the house, I have a hard time thinking about the concept of living back in an apartment and what to do with all our stuff, etc. Should I try working freelance or go back to full time position for the benefits, etc.? I was in my mid-20’s at that time too and realize it would be much different with child at 40. But there is so much I miss…
Well, keep the blog entries coming.
Cheers,
Hilary
Cheers and thanks for all the good advice..
Hi Hilary, nice to see someone on here who I have actually met in person! Yes, I love Bill Bryson. I think I own just about every one of his books. I’m A Stranger Here Myself was one of the first books I bought when I moved back to the U.S. I lent it to someone and never got it back, so I just bought it again last year. His humor is fabulous! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for the kind words.
I love this video! I’ve posted it on my Facebook page and played it for myself on many occasions just to have a laugh. Some of my friends who watched it took away the message that too many people today are spoiled and harbor inappropriate feelings of entitlement. What I took away from the video was far more inspirational: that it’s important to see the world around you in a new light and open your eyes to just how amazing it really is. And of course I can also appreciate how wonderfully hilarious it is! I laugh every single time I watch it! Thanks for sharing it on your blog!
That’s the beauty of the video. I understood it to mean both messages – people today are spoiled and we need to appreciate all the wonderful technology we have around us. I’m glad you enjoyed it!