October 14th, 2013 | Uncategorized
Everywhere I turn, someone is talking about a gap. At home I am aware of two gaps. One is Gap, the retail store my dearest roommate used to work at. The second is the gap between the dumpster and the platform at the dump, which I was always terrified I would fall into as a child. This gap thing began the first time Shelby and I went on the Dart. Before stopping at any station, the recording says in a robotic Irish brogue, “Mind the gap.” They are referring to the gap between the platform and the train car, and it sends us into a fit of giggles every time. I wonder if they are just trying to prevent an accident or if something tragic happened to provoke so much insistence on minding that 3” gap! After doing some intense research, Urban Dictionary tells me it originated in London and for some reason tourists from the US become preoccupied with the saying and in our terrible imitation of the accent will repeatedly blabber it over and over. Whoops, looks like we fell into that tourist trap Shelby! And to be fair, I have yet to trip because I am so hyper aware of the “gap.”
So why the heck is this worthy of a blog? I don’t rightly know, but it seems like I have heard the “g” word way too many times in the past week. In practice, we are always emphasizing cutting to the gaps of the zone. In class today, we talked about one of the benefits to doing a literature review is to identify the GAP in the current research. Or positioning our business in the GAP of the market. So many gaps, you would think someone would start filling them!
Working in the community in Dublin, Shelby and I are trying to fill many of these “gaps.” Although basketball is our main tool, we do so by listening, boosting their confidence, screaming on the bench in excitement, or offering a piggyback. With the exception of the Dart, it seems like the resounding theme is the importance of finding these gaps and filling them.
Dare to be different, and quit minding the gap (unless there is a train coming)!
