I am at someplace like an old school. The floors are terrazzo and the wall are made of glazed ceramic bricks. It's got a very institutional feel. I'm heading to the bathroom and because this place is a little rough around the edges, I'm bringing my own roll of toilet paper. The bathroom is weirdly large, like the way bathrooms are in institutions. There are a couple of doors and the toilet is in the middle of one wall. The handle on the single lever faucet is a little groady, so I start wiping it down with toilet paper. Now it has morphed into something larger like a stainless steel toilet seat. I'm making some progress with cleaning it, but portions of the polished surface have been damaged. I keep after it and then suddenly three faces are revealed. Someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to etch these faces onto this piece of steel. They are very good, detailed pictures too, not just some cartoon images.
Now I'm talking to a student and I am trying to explain the meaning of the word 'grok' to him. I tell him he should read Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, and then I have to explain who Heinlein was. Not surprising. Does anyone in the current generation know who Heinlein was?
1 comment:
A lot of "science fiction" back in the day has become News items to newer generations. When they watch movies based on his books they know who the actors are but clueless about the book. I often make the mistake of assuming when my small group of friends and myself got exited about something the other people who were around were at least aware of it, but that's not true. Most peoples interest and focus is pretty limited.
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