From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Just Do It Over (13)—Water Lurch

One year ago on Round and Square (16 February 2012)—Kanji Mastery: Radical 94 (犬 Dog)
Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Just Do It Over"


[a] Bottled RF
O.k., seriously. Look me in the (virtual) eye here and tell me that you didn't know I would eventually cave-in and write about Marco Rubio lunging for the water bottle in his rejoinder to President Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday. Really, I tried. I apologize in advance to my conservative readers, and ask that they understand that this is not political. I know that it is a little cultural lapse that has gone viral, but...well I am human (in the full sense of anthro-[po]-ology). It is just so, so, cultural that I just can't look away. I am weak. I am powerless in the face of rich, cultural events.

I am sorry.

 So, let's start with...water lurches and lunges. 
[b] Lurch RF

 You see, Senator Rubio seemed to be pretty thirsty. This blog is not political, as experienced readers already know. Have you ever been thirsty? Of course you have. If you lift weights or run or bike or ski, you probably have wanted to stop and take a drink. Hell, you get parched. Why wouldn't you want a sip of something, or even a Big Gulp?



So, we get thirsty, and we seek the oasis. 

Senator Rubio got thirsty on Tuesday night, and he lurched for the water. I assume that you have seen it, but (just in case) here is a CNN overview of the matter. Mind you, I don't show this to make fun of the junior senator from Florida. For example, I might do a post in a day or two on the absolute impossibility of doing a response to a State of the Union speech (either party). I actually feel sorry for Senator Rubio and Governor Jindal (and even President/Governer Daniels—this stuff doesn't work).


And...yet...he was thirsty. Do you crank on to the end, even with the crack-crack of Blistex-needed lips or do you lunge for the water? This is not new. Most of us who have spent time speaking in public know that water glasses and bottles are available at almost every conference, speech, or joint session in which we have ever participated. Usually (as almost all of us know), the stakes are low.

And, occasionally, they are high. A certain Congressman from Janesville, Wisconsin (just up the road from me) apparently did some water bottle (glass) lurching himself during the vice-presidential debate last October. I don't remember it, but apparently Saturday Night Live did. Boy, they are tough on moments in the (parched) sun.


[c] Wet-dry RF
The junior senator from Florida didn't fare much better on Tuesday night. 

It did look a little wild-eyed, but just think for a moment. If you have ever spoken in public, imagine the call of nature (no, not that one). How would you handle those dry adenoids (so to speak)? Imagine that you are giving a speech to the Northfield, Minnesota Rotary Club, and that you lurch a little too obviously for the water. If you could do it over...how would you do it?

If you were Senator Rubio, in short, how would you just do it over? 

Think about it, and please feel free to add to the comments section. Do-overs are fascinating, and you know that we think about them all of the time. How would you have responded better to the person who put you down yesterday? How would you have sipped differently if you had a chance?  

Don't kid yourself. We think about it all of the time.

The real question is this. Do we really ever get a second chance if we lurch or lunge on a truly national stage? Let me know what you think.

How would you do it over...if you could...and...well...could you? 
[d] Waterlunge RF
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 16, 2013 at 3:26 AM

    It seems to me that the public does not easily forget these kinds of mistakes. The mistake is forever linked with the person's name. Thinking back to similar instances with politicians, the influence can be minor to great. The most interesting thing, to me, is how the media reacts and how it spreads through social media. Remember how the media hounded Howard Dean's emphatic speech where he was yelling the names of the states that were voting the next week? (This was during the primaries in 2004.) In the clip you can't hear the audience cheering along so he looked and sounded "crazy." All the big-media news stations played the clip over and over and talked about how inappropriate and "crazy" he was. That was basically the end of his campaign. Similarly, there are a whole host of moments in Bush's 8 years that could be likened to similarly embarrassing as Senator Rubio lurch.

    In most instances it seems that, at least on the national stage, no, you do not get a second chance. If you do, it must have been because the social gaffe wasn't so memorable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Round and SquareFebruary 16, 2013 at 3:31 AM

    Yup, Ellery. That is what I am thinking here. It is terribly "unfair" (the Dean moment is really unfortunate). I am intrigued by the way that some people "recover," but (ironically), I think it is easier to do if it is a terrible rift rather than a "funny" cultural moment. I plan to pay close attention to this in the coming months.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)