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Wash Speaks For Me

"Some People Juggle Geese."

If you don't know the reference, it's from Firefly, the Joss Whedon show back in the early Oughts that spawned some pretty hardcore fans. Wash, the series hero and my personal favourite character, is trying to explain to his wife and some of the other crewmembers of their spaceship that sometimes, people do things for fun that don't sound like fun to you. And that is OK.

It's become a shorthand for me, a reminder that my tastes are not universal and my idea of fun is not the ideal against which all others should be measured. And that is OK. It applies to a bunch of other things, too, things not about fictional entertainment modes in short-lived science fiction TV shows.

For instance, the iOS/Android divide? The particular tribalism that crops up in both camps that insists a position of superiority simply due to the brand and operating system of a pocket computer used? That's a position I don't understand. There are things about both ecologies that recommend themselves to certain people, and that's OK. I personally use an N5, but I've got friends who are committed to the iOS platform. That argument? "Some People Juggle Geese."

American Football is another one. I'm a football kinda guy, mostly MLS and UK Premier League, but I follow the World Cup, too. I love the game most americans call soccer. And I find american football (or "handegg") nearly unwatchable. BUT! "Some People Juggle Geese." I have many friends who wears player jerseys and watches games every Sunday, and that's OK.

Dungeons and Dragons has several different iterations, known as "editions", and there are virulent defenders of every version, some of whom have nothing but scorn for any other edition or anyone who plays that edition. "Some People Juggle Geese."

You can make this argument for a lot of things in the IT world, too. Python versus java? Agile versus Waterfall? DevOps versus Operations/Engineering? They all have positive and negative traits, and they all have significant backers and detractors. And that's OK. Remember: "Some People Juggle Geese."

"Some People Juggle Geese" is a reminder that the people you're working for and with have ideas and viewpoints that may be different from your own, but that doesn't make them inferior. It might even make them superior in their role and their work, even if their ideas don't work for you, and that's OK.

Make it a mantra. Or, don't, really; Some People Juggle Geese.
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