Friday, March 11, 2005

ONLY IN CAMBRIDGE (PART DEUX) ——- by Steve Nadis

I overheard this conversation the other day, the type of remarkable exchange one could only hear on the “streets” (or fiber-optic cables) of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Man One: Are you busy?

Man Two: A little, but not uninterruptably busy……

I’m well aware of the fallibility of memory. In fact, you might call me a student of the subject. But in this case, I can vouch for the accuracy of the above transcript, down to the last semicolon. Why can I be so sure? Well, it’s time for another confession: I’m “Man One,” and I delivered those memorable three words (“are you busy?) with my usual panache, as if auditioning for the role of street cleaner in “Cats.”

I presented this snippet not only to show off my flair for dialogue–movie producers take notice!–but also because I’m particularly taken with the expression “not uninterruptably busy,” which I envision great things for, taking its place alongside “teachable moment ” and other phrases-du-jour. Add it to your lexicon and mark my words: It’s going to be big. What’s so great about “not uninterruptably busy,” you ask, that makes me think it has a chance of making the bigtime, as the terser and less cumbersome “teachable moment” did? There are a number of reasons, including the fact that it ties in so marvelously to our plugged-in, 24/7 lifestyle. “But why now?” you ask. “And can it possibly be another ‘where’s the beef?’ or ’sock it to me’?” To this, I reply, if you keep pestering me with questions, I’m going to end this conversation right now. You see I’ve suddenly become “uninterruptably busy.”

Posted by Snake at 14:01:16
Comments

7 Responses to “ONLY IN CAMBRIDGE (PART DEUX) ——- by Steve Nadis”

  1. Burt says:
    March 11, 2005 at 2:25 pm

    Here‘s a "teachable moment" for you: Stop wasting our time.

  2. Snake says:
    March 11, 2005 at 2:26 pm

    Well put. That‘s exactly my point.

  3. gatemouth says:
    March 11, 2005 at 3:03 pm

    Actually, I think Snake‘s got something here. "Not uninterruptably busy" fits perfectly with the yuppie/muppy/guppy/whatever-uppy lifestyle. (Although I think it should be "uinterruptibly".) It‘s not just about how busy they/we are–it‘s about who rates and who doesn‘t. In other words: ask not for whom are you "uninterruptibly busy"; ask who is "uninterruptibly busy" for you.

    Good work, Snake!

    P.S. Is there a special manual I‘m supposed to read to get my posts to show up without all those annoying escape sequences (i.e. slashes)? (Tell blog.com this is one reason I didn‘t pick their service. The other is that their servers seem a little slow compared to others.)

  4. gatemouth says:
    March 11, 2005 at 3:04 pm

    Oops! Never mind. Looks like the "slasher" problem has gone away.

  5. Snake says:
    March 11, 2005 at 3:43 pm

    That‘s good. I‘d rather not have a slasher terrorizing this blog.

  6. Man Two says:
    March 15, 2005 at 7:08 pm

    I must question the accuracy of your transcript, Man One. There was only one ellipsis after busy, not two ellipses. Damn liberal media exaggerating again.

  7. Snake says:
    March 15, 2005 at 9:05 pm

    I admit to being liberal in my use of ellipses. (So that‘s what they‘re called!) I‘m also fond of parabolas.

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