Yeah but . . . since when is “ask” not a nice word?

It’s a big picture I know. But it’s a big game! And I wanted you to see sort of what it looks like.

You’ve heard of armchair quarterbacks, right? Well how about armchair Treasury Secretary?

The Bailout Game is a very cool, interactive, multimedia, online game in which you are given a dump truck load of money to distribute to whoever you think you need to in order to save the economy.

But you only have so much money, so who gets a bailout and who doesn’t? Try it out and watch how your decisions affect what happens. What makes this game even cooler is that it’s loaded with real video and flash graphics that just, well . . . it’s hard for me to do this justice it’s so slick.

A recent post at Freakonomics Blog likened it to “Guitar Hero for armchair central bankers.”

Let me just say that this is neat. Check it out. I don’t play video games (on-line or otherwise), but this is very cool. It blew me away. And I bet I’ll learn something too.

As a teacher I often forget that what I’m doing (and not doing) matters. This is also true in all my other roles: As a dad, a brother, a friend, a colleague, a customer, a client, a consumer, a producer, a guy who cuts grass and shovels snow.

Actually, I’m lucky to be a teacher. Every once in awhile, I get to hear that I’m having some sort of impact. Hopefully these impacts are positive.

Though it’s no less true for others, I don’t think most people get to experience this. And so, most people are completely oblivious when it comes to the impact they are having–myself included.

That’s why Jaqueline Novogratz’s story about her sweater caught my attention. It’s hard to realize the scope of consequence my individual actions (and inactions) are having. I guess maybe the thing to remember is that everything I (and you) do does matter. When you realize this, you can no longer say, “It doesn’t matter,” or “It didn’t mean anything.”

Because it does. Not being fully aware of your level of impact, doesn’t make you any less responsible.

How does it make you feel to realize that you are still responsible for things that you didn’t mean to happen?

You may not have 15 minutes to watch her entire talk. But do you have 2 minutes to listen to her opening? It will make you think.

A father and son were out driving in preparation for the son’s driver’s examination the next morning.

Father: How do you feel about the test tomorrow?

Son: Pretty good.

Father: Great. Let me ask you a few questions then.

Son: Ok.

Father: What do you do if you go into a skid.

Son: Turn into the skid, apply light break pressure.

Father: Ok. Now, what do you do when you’re buddy in the back seat offers you a beer?

Son: (turning to father, deadpan) Tell him I’m not done with my first one yet.

What makes this funny is that this was an actual conversation related to me by the father–one of the best and funniest bullshitters I’ve ever met. It’s good to know that he’s passing his gift of wit on to the next generation.