Thursday, August 10, 2006
Revolution and the Candy Machine
It's been a slow day today - no good stories or funny pictures - so I'll reach into the archives for a good tale.
A long time ago, during a bygone century, I was in college. I was taking an evening course (I think it was CS114), it was a long class, it was a warm evening, and everyone was getting a little bit sleepy. The professor could see that it was time for a break, so he called for a break. Too lazy to move, I just stayed in my seat. I must have done something - I'm sure I didn't just sit there staring at the board. But I can't remember what I did, so maybe I did just stare at the board. Meanwhile, the rest of my classmates were hanging out in the hall, conducting transactions with vending machines, using the lavatory, etc. Eventually they began returning to the classroom, and there were almost enough people to get the class going again.
It was then that I noticed a steady thumping sound in the hall. Maybe every ten seconds, there would be another loud thump. The professor asked "Where's Joe?" (Actually I don't remember the name of the student in question, so I just made up the name Joe, which, as it happens, was the professor's name.) Someone answered "He's trying to get his bag of chips out of the vending machine. It got stuck on the little spiral thingy that's supposed to release it." The thumping continued, and got louder. Finally there was a huge crash and the sound of glass breaking. Instantly everyone (well almost everyone; I stayed put) got up and ran out into the hall. I could hear a great deal of commotion, and the looters returned to the classroom with armloads of candy, cookies, chips. The slower ones came back with bags of raisins. And finally Joe came walking back into the classroom carrying his single bag of chips that he finally got his hands on, while picking bits of glass out of his hair. We heard that during the looting frenzy, security showed up, chased the looters away, and then helped themselves to what was left. The next day the glass was cleaned up, the machine was repaired and restocked, and there was no evidence that anything had happened there.
What struck me about this incident was how much it was like a revolution. One peasant can't stand the injustice anymore, and demands his rights - nothing more, nothing less. The rest of the crowd senses that the uprising has begun and they release all their inhibitions. Finally the King's Guard show up, restore order, help themselves to the spoils of war, and blame it on the peasants. In real life, some of these revolutions actually do succeed, leading to a new corrupt elite, but most are like the candy machine. The peasants let off some steam and then everyone tries to pretend it never happened.
A long time ago, during a bygone century, I was in college. I was taking an evening course (I think it was CS114), it was a long class, it was a warm evening, and everyone was getting a little bit sleepy. The professor could see that it was time for a break, so he called for a break. Too lazy to move, I just stayed in my seat. I must have done something - I'm sure I didn't just sit there staring at the board. But I can't remember what I did, so maybe I did just stare at the board. Meanwhile, the rest of my classmates were hanging out in the hall, conducting transactions with vending machines, using the lavatory, etc. Eventually they began returning to the classroom, and there were almost enough people to get the class going again.
It was then that I noticed a steady thumping sound in the hall. Maybe every ten seconds, there would be another loud thump. The professor asked "Where's Joe?" (Actually I don't remember the name of the student in question, so I just made up the name Joe, which, as it happens, was the professor's name.) Someone answered "He's trying to get his bag of chips out of the vending machine. It got stuck on the little spiral thingy that's supposed to release it." The thumping continued, and got louder. Finally there was a huge crash and the sound of glass breaking. Instantly everyone (well almost everyone; I stayed put) got up and ran out into the hall. I could hear a great deal of commotion, and the looters returned to the classroom with armloads of candy, cookies, chips. The slower ones came back with bags of raisins. And finally Joe came walking back into the classroom carrying his single bag of chips that he finally got his hands on, while picking bits of glass out of his hair. We heard that during the looting frenzy, security showed up, chased the looters away, and then helped themselves to what was left. The next day the glass was cleaned up, the machine was repaired and restocked, and there was no evidence that anything had happened there.
What struck me about this incident was how much it was like a revolution. One peasant can't stand the injustice anymore, and demands his rights - nothing more, nothing less. The rest of the crowd senses that the uprising has begun and they release all their inhibitions. Finally the King's Guard show up, restore order, help themselves to the spoils of war, and blame it on the peasants. In real life, some of these revolutions actually do succeed, leading to a new corrupt elite, but most are like the candy machine. The peasants let off some steam and then everyone tries to pretend it never happened.
# posted by Ray @ 22:50 
