Glass boxes

There are a couple of things that come to mind when I think of glass boxes. The first is a Far Side comic where mob killings were done by dressing up the victims as mimes and then putting them in glass boxes to suffocate in public. The second is Yakko Warner reading the Wheel of Morality thusly: "People who live in glass houses should get dressed with the lights out." I know; profound.

The reason I'm mentioning this now, however, more has to do with sound proofing. If you live in or climb into a glass box (let's assume there's no danger of suffocation), you'll find that a good thick glass box can do wonders for blocking sound. And if you're trying to get someone's attention from within, you may find the best way is to find your chamber's resonant frequency. I mean, it's not the most soundproof, but there you have the analogy.

And sometimes, more and more recently, I feel like I'm in one of those proverbial glass boxes. Like I've been placed in one sitting on the goal line in a football field and then asked to get someone's attention who's in another box on the other side. And no, they didn't give us a string to pull taut between us. Then someone comes along and gives the other person a microphone attached to a really nice PA system. I get a microphone, but it's in pieces. Then I get an electronic billboard. Also in pieces. And now a cell phone, but without the other person's number. And did I mention it's in pieces? Meanwhile the other person is saying "Hello? Hello? Hello?" and I'm shouting and trying to put something together that'll work, but it's all taking a really long time. Perhaps too long.

How long do you stay in the box? How long do you keep trying to follow these instructions? How long will it take to put one of those stupid things together?

I don't know.