For those who’ve not heard the explanation …
Every day, about half way through the second mile (so midway-ish) in my talking, I walk past this:
I slap the reflector on the middle post and say “Monk pole.”
The reference is to the TV show “Monk.” The main character is OCD and can’t walk past anything sticking up without touching it. Parking meters, phone poles, fences, you name it. It’s one of the running gags in the show.
Once when at a conference with a colleague whom I knew also liked the show, I started touching uprights as we walked past them. It took several minutes before the joke blossomed into laughter.
So, now, I only touch that one … my Monk pole. It’s nothing more than a running gag.
Ha! Funny. I guessed as much.
But I would never parse the cultural reference as I’ve never seen the show “Monk.”
I partly grew up in Barrow, AK. There was no TV there. To this day I’m still not hooked up to TV and haven’t seen many shows.
Thanks for the backstory.
🙂
I’m glad to find this explanation!
It can be confusing for people who come to the podcast without knowing the in-jokes. 🙂
Glad you posted this, I’ve often wondered. May need to go back and try to rewatch Monk. I didn’t watch it much when it was on, but like to find the gems, and watch on the subscription services.
Monk: (to make with broken arm) Pleeeese, may I break the other one!