Every so often two of my old school friends and I get together for drinks and dinner. We eat unhealthy food and drink overpriced whiskey. We catch up on each other’s families and complain about being middle-aged. We raise a glass to our wives and reminisce about how everything was better in the 90s (apart from bucket hats, they’ve always been wrong).
We also make each other laugh. A lot. I laugh most when I’m with those two guys. Often the laughter comes from in-jokes that have carried on through the decades. Often, we can’t remember what started the joke or even what it refers to now – but they have become the catchphrases of our relationship.
One of these friends works in the advertising industry. He has to marshal the needs of a client, the talent of his creative team, and the logistics of production. He told me about how sometimes an advert can often start with a clear concept, but as it’s bounced around layers of ideas get layered on top of it and slowly the concept becomes less clear. Everyone involved, as they were there at inception knows what they mean, but to the external observer the response is
“Eh?”