Daily Column

Trying To Infer What's Going On

Or waiting to be told?

I'm blinking through a bleary fog that won't clear.

It's mid-morning and my hands are clasped around a cup of coffee. I'm tired and can't seem to break away from it today. This table by the window's a favorite of mine, the glass juts out far enough for me to tuck my bag up against it so it's on the inside rather than in the walkway. I'm sitting with my left foot tucked under my right ankle, which is resting on top of one of the table legs. I never know what to do with those. They're not far enough away to be a comfortable footrest for long and they're not close enough to not be in the way. Maybe I'm just too short. Either way, I know I'm going to end up readjusting my feet soon.

On the wooden tabletop in front of me, my laptop's open and there's a video playing. I'm watching the beginning of an interview with Andrew Stanton to see if I want to add to my podcast queue. He was the second animator hired by Pixar, like ever, and he's also written and directed a handful of movies for them like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Inside Out and more.

The first question the interviewer asked was how he thinks about making movies that are captivating for both kids and parents.

He replied with, "Well, we've never written for kids."

I slammed the space bar to pause the video.

Um, what?

Is he serious?

I'm staring at the screen, eyebrows scrunched together, trying to figure out what he means. I'm tempted to just add the podcast to my queue and let the anticipation build, but I cave without much of a struggle.

With a completely straight face, he goes on to say, very matter-of-factly, that kids are exceptionally driven to figure things out. He describes them like sponges who innately know to watch people and then try to infer what's going on. It's the adults, he says, that learn to stop doing that over time.

I slap pause again.

Damn.

This is going to be a great listen on my next run.


Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
317/365

Do you try to infer what's going on or wait to be told?

onward. 

For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.


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