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There's a great quote on his wikipedia page: "... while riding a bus in New York City, he observed a mother with eight small children embark. She asked the dri
by sjcsjc 8y ago
There's a great quote on his wikipedia page:
"... while riding a bus in New York City, he observed a mother with eight small children embark. She asked the driver the amount of the fare; he told her that the cost was thirty-five cents, but that children under the age of five could ride for free. When the woman deposited only thirty-five cents into the payment slot, the driver was incredulous. "Do you mean to tell me that all your children are under five years old?" The woman explained that she had four sets of twins. The driver replied, "Do you always have twins?" "No," said the woman, "most of the time we don't have any."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Weinberg#Work https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Weinberg#Work
- jgrahamc 8y agoI don't understand that story. Could you explain?
- mjlee 8y agoMost of the time, after having sex, they don't have any children at all. It makes more sense in the context of his Law of Twins: > most of the time, no matter how much effort one expends, no event of any great significance will result
- sjcsjc 8y agoThanks - I did rather mess things up by omitting that.
- akuji1993 8y ago> most of the time, no matter how much effort one expends, no event of any great significance will result What a great outlook on life.
- pjmorris 8y agoIn the book [0], he adds the observation that sometimes something does happen. My inference of the point of the incomplete story told above is to reassure people when their efforts don't seem to take hold. Some can begin to blame themselves. Recognizing that change is rare and hard helps to depersonalize a failure to make change happen. [0] 'The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully', Weinberg
- fosco 8y agoI think I misunderstood this entirely when I first saw it, I always thought she was babysitting or had a daycare and they were not her kids and most of the time she has kids but they are not twins.
- pvaldes 8y agoThe woman was not the mother of all the children is one possible explanation
- ctrlp 8y agoThey aren't really twins at all, but to save the fare, she'll say they are while riding the bus. Most of the time, they aren't.
- Alex63 8y agoI have been a big fan of GW since the 80s. I don't have my copy of _Secrets of Consulting_ handy, so I can't check whether he actually claimed that story as a personal experience. I do know that I've seen a British comic postcard from around 1950 that uses a similar joke: Vicar to parishioner: "My word, Mrs. Jones, do you always have twins?" Mrs. Jones: "Oh, no sir, most of the time we don't have anything."