Dear Agony Aunt,
My husband is having an affair with his secretary. He brings her home and they hang out in our bedroom, while he wants me to make them pink daiquiris in the kitchen. My problem is – how do I make a pink daiquiri?
For anyone that knows me, it is a favorite joke I like to repeat (probably too much) – I originally heard it from a great New Zealand comedy show called McPhail And Gadsby growing up in Wellington as a kid.
I love the absurdity of the poor wife that has lost sight of the real problem that her husband is having an affair and instead has focused herself on the technical problem of making a pink daiquiri. I keep coming back to this joke because it’s a great parable for how many IT projects go.
Some mistake is made and not recognized early on and then people start tying themselves in knots to resolve the symptoms rather than the real underlying problem. We forget what the objectives are and lose sight that the tools we use are just a means to an end.
I often use this joke as a way to lighten things up and help my staff or customers have a chuckle and take step back to look at the problem they solving from a slightly different vantage point.
Hmmm – come to think of it …. I still don’t know how to make a Pink Daiquiri.