My daughter called me last Thursday evening, just to chat. (How lucky am I to have adult children who want to do that!) We both had busy work weeks with long hours, and it was nice to commiserate a bit. As usual, our conversation meandered, and I mentioned that because of her, we were five degrees of separation from the famous Austin barbecue chef, Aaron Franklin.
"Oh, because of Tatsu, right?" she said. "Yup," I replied.
My daughter (1) has a friend from middle school (2) whose sister (3) dated Tatsu, a well-known Austin fusion chef (4), who has collaborated with Franklin (5) and appeared in the PBS series with him.
I surprised her when I said that she was two degrees from Nicole Kidman--I saw the actress across the room in Harrods of London when I was visiting my brother, stationed in England at the time.
Have you ever played the six degrees of separation game? It's based on the eponymous play by John Guare, and became part of pop culture with the creation of the Kevin Bacon version (you can watch the actor himself explain the game in the video link). Guare's premise is that we're all within six degrees of separation from everyone on the planet, in one way or another.
The pandemic lockdown really weakened relationships we have with each other, within families, classrooms, even the loose acquaintances we have in public. Maybe it's time to bring back the popularity of the six degrees game. It may have "separation" in the title, but it's really all about connections.
Author's note: I hope you don't mind the links. I don't know who will be reading this, and I thought you might like the background info on the people, the play, and the game.
Thank you for bringing us into your conversation with your daughter. I only knew vaguely of the concept, so appreciated your examples. And I appreciated the links. Thank for for reframing the separation to connection. I think I need to try this out with someone too.
ReplyDeleteI cannot even imagine what I would do if I saw Nicole Kidman from across the room. Thanks for the links! I especially enjoyed listening to Kevin Bacon explain the game.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. I am blown away by the shift from the lightness of playing this game to your ending where you put connecting with others in the context of COVID. It makes me think about the game so differently. What a powerful piece!
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