Awaiting the Alien Invasion

So far this week, DC has gone through The Earthquake (holding back my CA disdain for the overreaction) and Hurricane Not-So-Much.  Turned out to be more just a really long-lasting drizzle.  I feel bad for North Carolina, because clearly they took the hit for us.  But the good thing is that I had a great excuse to stay home and watch about 12 episodes of my new obsession, Dr. Who.  I'm not usually much of a Sci-Fi person, but I'm learning that I have a serious weak spot for BBC sci-fi.  I think because they don't try to do anything fancy with the graphics or the storyline and also I'm in the first David Tennant season and he is rather dreamy.  Also I like the universe-i-ness of it.  Finishing The Sopranos and Six Feet Under has scarred me because there is just nothing nothing left to watch of these families I love so much. There seems to be an infinite amount of Dr. Who.


But enough about TV, even though it is taking up significant portions of my life.  This past week, I went to Austin, TX, and was totally rejuvenated.  I don't ever want to move back to Texas, but there is something homey about being around all those people I love so dearly and also being able to park easily.  Since then, we've been orientating the hell out of the new students, with trivia and dancing and dinners and info sessions.  Ready for that mess to be over - I have never been and never will be an orientation kind of gal.  Making 50 new acquaintances in two days makes my head hurt and also makes me more inclined to hate everyone.  Not a good attitude for a student mentor, but this is what they get.  One place I went this week that I absolutely do NOT recommend is Third Edition, one of the bigger bars in the Georgetown area.  Teeming with undergrads.  And in Georgetown, "undergrads" means girls who look like prostitutes and guys with popped collars and smarmy faces.  Picture a lot of this, except the girls are more naked and there are more booze involved.  Do not ever ever go there.


And this brings me to my thought for this post.  The Abilene Paradox.  If you don't feel like reading that Wikipedia article, let me summarize for you: a group of friends is in a car.  No one wants to go to Abilene (this is almost certainly true).  Yet somehow...the car ends up going to Abilene because everyone thinks everyone else must want to go to Abilene because that's where we're going and no one wants to be the squeaky wheel.  I feel like, theoretically, this should be an almost extinct phenomenon because we are such a squeaky wheel-friendly society.  Everyone has an opinion on everything and posts it immediately on Twitter.  In politics, this should be all the MORE true!  There is nothing more popular than saying "everyone else is wrong".  Yet somehow...we still end up going to Abilene.  We all think raising taxes and eliminating some deductions is a good idea, and yet somehow we are only cutting programs that the vast majority of people think should remain untouched.  Everyone says Social Security has to be addressed, and yet on we go.
So maybe the problem is that we have too many people squeaking.  There's a lot of chatter in the car about how awful Abilene is, and even some people suggesting a place to turn around, but there's just too much noise.  I don't have a solution for this at all.  Staying quiet doesn't help, but more talking doesn't either, and at this point, all the "I take real action" promises just add to the squeakiness.
Also, as an FYI, I'm hoping to go to Abilene in October, entirely of my own free will.  It's actually not that bad.