Our shredder at work can shred the hell out of things. And every time I use it I think, “If the US Embassy in Iran had had this shredder, the Iranians never would’ve been able to piece the pictures of the hostages back together.” You know, from that scene in “Argo.”
I like to say “concur” because it reminds me of a particular part of “Catch Me If You Can.”
“A League of Their Own” has two of my faves. “See, how it works is, the train moves, not the station,” which I am reminded of whenever I see a train. And “Well, this would be more, wouldn’t it?” which is very helpful when pointing out obvious math comparisons.
Not a time goes by when I’m moving furniture that I don’t yell “Pivot!” like Ross in that episode of “Friends.” And when I put on socks and shoes (which is sort of rare for me because socks are dumb) I am instantly reminded of an old episode of “All in the Family” where Archie and Meathead argue about whether it’s more appropriate to go sock, sock, shoe, shoe or sock, shoe, sock, shoe. It’s unusual for me, but this time I agree with Archie. You gotta go sock, sock, shoe, shoe.
There are countless others. I don’t think a day goes by when I’m not reminded of a TV or movie scene (or sometimes a book—I do read!) in my everyday life. They make me laugh even if I’m the only one who gets it.
And sometimes I *am* the only one who gets it. Maybe you can relate. Something happens and you want to share it with someone. And you tell the first person you can find and it’s all “Bueller? Bueller?” And now I’m stuck in the awkward situation of having to explain it to you. You have to pretend it’s funny, and I have to pretend that I don’t think less of you. It’s painful for everybody.
But every so often, you find someone who gets your references and it’s an instant connection. Not long ago, someone at a work event said “220, 221, whatever it takes,” and I stopped mid-conversation and said “Did you just quote “Mister Mom”? This person immediately moved up a few notches in my estimation. And that, my friends, is synergy, and I “never bad-mouth synergy.”