Please just let it draw a bit.Most cafe guests know the little instruction from the waiter about the tea or coffee and know how much it means for the exact calculation of and seeing through the waiter’s personality.
Researcher Compas Entwistle states:
“It’s actually a very solemn thing to say.”
How exactly?
“What do you mean?”
What do you mean?
“Well. It’s a regulation, a decree, a law, an edict.”
Is Please just let it draw a bit stated about boiling water that slowly and quietly turns into tea or coffee on a cafe table an edict?
“Yes. That’s my point. And I’m a researcher.”
I see.
“The power analysis is a bit complicated. Let me explain. We agree that it is a very friendly request or instruction. About something very innocent. About tea. About coffee.”
I completely follow.
“But precisely because the waiter does not use self-irony in such an innocent context, it is easy to use a magnifying glass and enlarge and see how the waiter would behave if the situation was not innocent.”
I fully understand what you mean. It makes great sense. How wonderfully put. A wonder. For you too I would presume.
“Definitely.”
But what is the waiters alternative?
“The waiter has an alternative: Pointing to the teapot and saying the two sentences: Tea. Two minutes. A neat solution.”
A very neat solution indeed.
“Yes, yes, it is good that you praise me for my elegant solution to a societal problem, but I just want to ensure that all readers understand all aspects of the solution.”
I understand this need and hope to hear about those aspects even though I’m also looking forward to hearing about other aspects.
“Are you looking forward to hearing about the aspects?”
The word aspects alone makes me shudder with expectation. Aspects. They almost sound like a kind of cookie. Voila. Taste these freshly baked aspects.
“The elegance is that the waiter plays on his authority in a humorous way. By uttering the hilariously funny words Tea. Two minutes. he explodes his authority before the eyes of the guests. It creates confidentiality, trust and unity.”
But how can the waiter continue this self-ironic style if the waiter is not in the right mood?
“Not in the right mood. Not in the right mood. Never have I heard such a wimpy apology. The waiter should do his job and do it fast.”
Another objection is that self-irony cannot be standardized. If you got all the servants in the world to make jokes about the tea in this way, it would be very konstigt as they say in Sweden.
“Well you idiot! Then you find the possibility of a variation. Your arguments are miserable.”
Don’t be so angry.
