The Inca civilization flourished …
… for a relatively short period of time, a little more than three hundred years. The most remarkable achievements of this civilization occurred during its last one hundred years, roughly 1450 to 1532 C.E.
Without any influence from Europe or Asia, they came up with the decimal system, the 12-month calendar, and advanced techniques in stone masonry, like those at Machu Picchu. They were also masters at urban planning, road systems, and terraced agriculture.
But they never discovered the wheel.
“Discovered” is not really an accurate word here. It’s not like the wheel was hiding behind some bushes and they overlooked it. Perhaps it is better to say: they never employed the wheel.
They are the only major civilization that did not use the wheel (there are others, but much smaller and less advanced.)
We look back, with our five-hundred-year perspective …
… and think: how could this happen? How could they read the movement of the stars and planets, how could they use advanced mathematics, how could they build Machu Picchu and not “discover” the wheel?
What were they, stupid?
Not so fast.
Five hundred years from now, anthropologists will look back at our civilization and ask:
Why is it that they never learned how to board a plane?
Why did they always do it from the front when, clearly, from the back forward is the much saner way? Why did they continue to allow people to fill the front seats, get all comfy, only to be jockeyed and jostled by oversized carry-on luggage and baby strollers and backpacks the size of camping tents?
What were they, stupid?
Yes.
There was a time, when I worked in the corporate world, that I travelled often. On average, about once a week I’d be on a plane to somewhere. I had rewards miles, sky miles, the occasional upgrade to business class, access to the airline lounge, and PRIORITY BOARDING.
Those days are gone.
From my most recent experience, this is how plane boarding now works.
Voice of person at counter:
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Flight 798 …”
The voice is way too chirpy for the time of the morning. Which is 5:15. A.M.
“… we’ll begin boarding ...”
Ah, I think, now comes separating the wheat from the chaff.
“… with Royalty, Heads of State, members of our Diamond Platinum You’re-Too-Marvelous-For-Words Club, and All-Star Major League Baseball Players.”
Ten minutes later, after some pomp and circumstance and not a little obsequiousness, we hear:
“Thank you for your patience. And now, we’d like to invite parents traveling with babies, babies traveling by themselves, babies traveling together, Olympic Medal winners, Guggenheim Fellows, and Masons to board.”
The crowd dwindles a bit, but not nearly enough to make much difference.
“Again, thank you for your patience …”
Don’t thank me, I think. I have already burned through the small supply of patience I had left.
“… now we’d like to welcome on board our Cubic Zirconium Members, Parrotheads, Deadheads and Switfies, Chamber of Commerce members, philatelists, and oh … ha ha ha, I almost forgot … the pilots and the crew.”
You can feel it now: people are tired, hungry, the mood is souring quicker than milk in the sun. It’s every person for him/herself now.
Why?
Because we are the hoi polloi, the vast unwashed masses, the rabble, the peasants, the riffraff, the human flotsam and jetsam simply trying to get from point A to point B. We will fly on the wing if necessary.
And the person at the counter knows that.
So, we don’t hear: “And now I’d like to invite …”. No, we hear:
“Ready, set … go!!”
Okay that happened. But at least the food would be good. How do I know this? Because they advertised it:
I’m joking, I’m joking. THERE WAS NO FOOD. And we were on a FIVE-HOUR FLIGHT.
But there was this “free snack”:
It would have taken a miracle like the loaves and fishes to cure the hunger in that cabin.
I like this five-hundred-year perspective idea. It gives me a little hope.
Five hundred years ago, most people still believed the sun and stars revolved around the earth, the devil was in swarms of bugs, and bleeding people could make them better.
Now, only Joe Rogan believes that.
What things that we believe today will succumb to a five-hundred-year perspective?
I don’t know, but I think we can safely say: a lot.
I’m starting a new Substack (I will continue to post Words & Music every Friday) specifically for “Honest To God.”
It’s called: “Diary of a Book Launch.”
I am starting from scratch on this book launch. I have many ideas, but I need to put them into place.
And it’s not far away:
While this Substack will be easily accessible to all, ideally it is geared toward my Honest to God street team—the people without whose help I will not be able to make this book a success. I imagine this number to be around 50 people, but the higher the better.
As soon as the site is live, I will let you know. And if you already would like to be part of the street team, just shoot me an email.
There is so much talent outside the world of over-produced, pitch-corrected pablum. And occasionally, it shows up on TikTok.
That’s where I first heard this young woman, Gabriella Quevedo. She is a young Swedish guitarist. If you play the guitar, you’ll immediately know how difficult it is to do what she is doing. If you don’t play guitar, then take my word for it: this is crazy hard to do.
But watch how calm and serene she is while playing this. Just amazing.
If you “like” (heart) this post or—even better—comment, it is a big help. The post gains more visibility.
Thank you for reading! Apologies in advance for typos. (I am a dyslexic proofreader!)
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As a member of the hoi polloi, I couldn't agree more.
SO funny!