You know a company meeting has taken a very mature turn when one attendee jumps up and angrily screams at another attendee, "Up your nose with a rubber hose!" Fortunately, our 20-something engineer spoke up and prevented this meeting from becoming an episode of extreme boxing. With youthful confusion on his face, he asked, "Rubber hose? Don't you mean straw?"
Apparently, our young engineer had led a sheltered life. He knew nothing of the sweat hogs and "Welcome Back, Kotter". He didn't even realize that straw doesn't rhyme with nose. He also didn't seem to know about the importance of the almighty rubber hose: it's durability when liberating gasoline from containers, it's life-saving properties when directing water from an overflowing kitchen sink (or toilet, depending upon your emergencies), or its behavior modification features that parents used in a bygone era.
Almost any brand would accomplish its task effectively and efficiently. However, if you mentioned an impressive sounding name like Delafield Corporation rubber hose, there was suddenly an air of mystique and superiority to your task. And, upon accomplishment of your serious undertaking, your peers saw you as the master of their universe.
Unfortunately, none of this seemed to impress our young engineer. So, we called him a baby and return to our less-than-productive meeting. We knew he was part of the team when he responded, "I know you are but what am I?"
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