what's this? what's this?

Wanting a little entertainment with my afternoon snack, I turned to TBS for an episode of my boys of physics.
Sure, I've seen "The Wedding Gift Wormhole" (TBBT s12e2) several times, but it struck me differently this time.
It was all about perspective.
People tend to see what they want to see
It's immaterial whether what they see is factual or imagined.
That's what perspective is all about: bringing one's own knowledge and experiences to bear in the interpretation of current circumstances or events.
In this episode, a wedding has occurred and a gift has been received.
As Jack Skellington - a scientist! - would ask, "What's this?"
Each couple had all seen the same exact object, an unusual one with an unknown purpose.
Each couple had then projected onto the object the meaning they wanted it to possess.
Only one person, the original giver of the object, knew it for what it actually was.
Only one couple, the first couple to marry, had been the original recipients; they had begun the re-gifting of it down the line, as each couple married, almost like a runner in a relay race passing the baton to the next person.

So, the first to wed were Howard and Bernadette, during "The Countdown Reflection" (s5e24), back on May 10, 2012.
In other words, that was eight years ago and serves as "t(1) = zero" for my purpose in this post.
As a gift Raj gave his best friend, Howard, the expensive crystal chakra wand (most likely the one representing Anahata, which has two triangles forming a hexagram and symbolizing the union of male and female).
No doubt, he thought it would be an inside joke with his best friend, a sex fiend.
Sadly, Howard did not ken its meaning, and neither did his wife.
Away into a drawer it went!

Fast forward to September 21, 2015.
The second to marry were Leonard and Penny, with "The Matrimonial Momentum" (s9e1) carrying them, on the spur of the moment, to Las Vegas.
That would have been about three and half years after the first couple had wed, so now "t(2) = 3.5 years".
Howard and Bernadette took that opportunity to offload the odd gift, the one they had never found a use for and that they may not have even recalled who gave it to them.
The newlyweds had no idea what it was, perhaps thinking that it might be meant as some strange decorative piece, right?
Not wanting to possibly offend their friends by asking what it was, they took the passive route.
Away into a closet it went!

Now, fast forward once more, this time to May 10, 2018, six years - to the day! - after the first wedding of these four physicists.
Would it be Raj's wedding?
Oh, please, only if he was marrying his little dog!
No, the time was finally right for Sheldon and Amy to tie the knot, with "The Bow Tie Asymmetry" (s11e24) at work in their favor!
Now, this wedding was almost three years after the second one, making "t(3) = 6 years".
Keeping up with the time line?
At t(1), Howard and Bernadette have it; at t(2), the object has passed to Leonard and Penny; and now, at t(3), the object has touched the hands of all four men and now belongs to this third couple.
In short, the object has been out of Raj's possession, and tucked away in a closet or drawer, for six years, all without him ever knowing that Howard no longer has it.
After the honeymoon in Lego Land, Sheldon and Amy are back home in Pasadena, opening gifts and writing thank-you notes.
Then, they get to the one for the gift from Leonard and Penny... and are stymied.
How can they properly thank them without knowing what it is?
Leonard and Penny, when questioned by Sheldon, allow him to think that the crystal piece is the first clue in a scavenger hunt that will lead to the real gift - and Sheldon rushes to tell Amy that they have a puzzle to solve!
Oh, joy!
Here's the thing: they truly believed they were on a scavenger hunt...
one that led them back to the coffee shop where they first met...
one that prompted them to look in the "lost and found" box...
one that rewarded them with the empty locket, to fill with their own photos...
one that led to a true gift from the heart, figuratively and literally.
Aw... how very romantic, right?
As Sheldon and Amy told the other couple, they'd actually been given a three-part wedding present: a puzzle-solving adventure; the locket at the puzzle's end; and the realization that Sheldon and Amy can do anything as long as they worked together.
Wow.
That really is a "glass is always full" sentiment, isn't it?
How appropriate for a physicist...
and for a chemist, too.
Opportunity abounds, like atoms and molecules, filling every space.
I must remember to look for that silver lining...
it's there, it truly is.
Even during the panic caused by a tiny virus cluster, there has to be a silver lining, right?

There certainly are an abundance of perceptions concerning that phenomenon.
Some people have had no interruption to their work status, losing not one moment, perceiving this health crisis and the resultant shelter-at-home to have been a moot point for that part of their life.
That's been the case for my first niece, as well as for my brother Tony and his wife, Laura, plus for my cousin Sharon and her partner in Augusta.
Some people have had their work change from live at the job site to video from home, with no loss of income, so the shelter-at-home has had little effect to their wallet in that regard.
That would be folks like my sister-in-law Mary, and Christina's boyfriend, and my friend Scott, plus the psychologist bfrb, as well as many of the teachers I know, like the bfe.
For some people, their jobs vanished into thin air as the shelter-at-home order was established, causing a massive impact on their finances.
Those folks would be my brother Smitty, the tour guide Eric, the pedicab driver Jason, Mia at the cinema, Drew at the Olive Garden, Jenn at SavRepTh.
And here's the thing: work is just one aspect of people's lives.
The income from work not only provides funds to keep the lights on, but also gives the ability to dine out, to go to a movie, to see a play, to enjoy art, to hoist a brew with friends.
When it comes to ability to to have entertainment, everyone has the same perspective: life is definitely harder without raison d'etre.

The trick is to keep breathing...
one day at a time...
one moment at a time.