Gremlin In The Gears

A Crash Course In General Jinx-ology

Jinx by yet another name, is the gremlin in the gears. This saboteur attaches itself to our proverbial airplane wing and tampers with thought engines enough to scuttle symbolic planes AND supersonic jets.

Please reference our aphoristic Urtext (a case study will follow further below)…

Contrary Jinxes

When you have it, you don’t need it. When you need it, you won’t have it.

Whatever’s new to you may be easy at the beginning, but repetition tends to make it trickier. It’s as if your brain is willfully attempting to complicate matters further, for no apparent reason.

You suffer from ‘invisible man syndrome’. That’s to say, nobody else ever notices your greatest achievements.

OR: While others watch over you closely, your nerves prevent you from fulfilling even rather rudimentary tasks.

Results vary vastly from what one has envisioned; countering intuition.

Some it would seem, have only rotten luck, or no luck at all.

‘Murphy’s Law’ flourishes to full effect. Anything that can go wrong, will definitely do so. But by the same token — we are given to witness wonderful variances that defy the most unlikely odds!

The Devil’s own luck saves your sorry ass at the most downtrodden moments from otherwise certain damnation and defeat.

Proactive Jinxes

Always remember that expectation tempers outcomes.

Find hidden correspondences between mind and matter.

Keep an ear to the ground and welcome the oncoming storm.

Strike fast when your brand is ablaze in order to singe success onto any set of circumstances.

Chancers have been known to beat the bank at casinos but they can also cool off the hot streaks of high rollers.

Everyone makes their own luck as they go along; equal parts opportunity and preparation. Learn to write your own ticket.

Neither rejoice overly much in good fortune, nor wallow for long in lament. Both opposite ends are closer to each other than we think and can rapidly reverse at any time.

Case Study: The Factory Floor Kobold

Workers at a local printing press reported that their industrial printers have been breaking down a lot lately, albeit at sporadic intervals. One would expect that it’s because these are old, obsolete model machines we’re talking about — but half of them have been in operation for less than six months. Contrary to what you might figure, it’s usually the newer ones that malfunction. Although on the face of it this seems to indicate a manufacturer defect — whenever they get repaired — then the older machines start acting up too.

Problems continue to alternate between them indefinitely. The incidence of paper jams and components conking out to stall the whole process is higher than can be accounted for by regular wear and tear. The resident technicians who service these presses rarely want for work. They’re busy day and night fixing the damn things every time they grind to a halt. Isn’t that a bit bizarre? Moreover, doesn’t it sound strangely familiar?

These are often the telltale signs of a gremlin in the gears. Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying there’s actually a little creature living inside the circuit boards. Maybe it’s more like the primitive insubordination of machine toward the machinations of man? Nevertheless, such facts are negligible when we consider the de facto state of affairs because the effect is pretty well the same either way. There’s not even any use railing against it, since no matter how hard one pushes, an invisible obstacle hardly budges. And in many cases, the less one suspects supernatural forces, the broader their leeway seems to grow.

I say this of course, as a textbook superstitious quack. Yet there’s the rub — when the unwary around you are running around in a panic — you can’t help but marvel at the quantum uncertainty of it all as you stand alone at the calm center of the squall. Because while we may indeed be the architects of our shared institutional realism, there remain blind spots aplenty in each individual’s personal purview. Collectively, certain manifestations appear to be somewhat less discernible. They do however invariably bear the mark of being uncanny in contrast to quotidian experience.

Keep an eye out for this next time you’re in a factory or even an office job or construction site setting. The more complicated a task and truth be told, the less coordinated a team — such factors increase the likelihood of contracting a kobold into the fold.

Naturally you should think to ask, “Well let’s assume for just a minute that you’ve got a valid point, what then could one do to rectify the situation?”

I’ll tell you but you’re not going to like it and you’d be perfectly within reasonable limits to wave it off as so much woo-woo. Nonetheless, the aim is to acknowledge, appease, and ultimately tame that gosh darn gremlin.

Sounds crazy, I know. Still, hear me out, I’ll explain with additional detail:

First, you must admit OUT LOUD that there’s a gremlin somewhere in the gearworks. Second, stop resisting it and let it have its nasty way at least a while longer. This doesn’t mean drop everything and give up. Try to carry on with your day as if nothing were wrong; working around the issue. Adapt. Improvise. Innovate. Synergize. Watch and wait. No doubt there are several surprises in stock.

Regardless, before you know it, the problem will either have righted itself or you’ll find a breakthrough solution. But also be aware, that there are going to be those days where the ghost in the machine will win no matter what. Hope instead that the gnomes and tricksters smile favourably upon your enterprise. Remember that preparation is pivotal. If you wish to minimize damages, it’s imperative to pay close attention to one’s advantages as well as disadvantages. Perhaps consider including your diminutive green frenemy in company policy and make the kobold an active part of preventative best practices. Here the potential for a symbiotic relationship is immense.

At any rate, don’t forget:

Jinx — slowpoke — you owe me a Coke!

Further Readings