International

Met L and S, two friends of mine, the day after Easter holiday. The latter was obviously tired.

“Hey man! What’s up?” I asked.

“Nothing,” S made a weak smile, “Just that I am coming to the conclusion that Thomas Friedman may be entirely wrong.”

“Don’t be obscure. What’s that all about?” I went on.

“You know, we are going to host an international conference.” He began.

“I’ve heard of that. I suppose that’s another piece of cake for you guys – after the experience of organizing no fewer than half a dozen of similar conferences.” I said.

“Alas, we all thought so – until yesterday when we had the meeting of the so-called organizing committee.” S sighed.

“What happened?” I was curious.

“Nothing – because no one is in charge and, worst of all, no one know who is in charge,” S was slightly excited, “You know, we are just a branch of that international organization. The headquarters is in Brussels. In order to streamline and orchestrate all the conferences within the organization, they hire a small group of experts – which stationed in Beijing. And, for this particular conference in Hong Kong, of course we have our own local organizing committee.”

“So…?” L interjected.

“So, the result is obvious. The three parties hardly ever meet and, whenever a problem appears, no one knows who is responsible to make the decision.” S continued, “The line of responsibility is similar to a Penrose stair paradox – There is always a level higher to seek permission, but, in reality, the matter is moving from one party to another without any progress.”

“In that case, Thomas Friedman was not incorrect,” L chuckled, “Just that you misunderstood him.”

“What?” I was surprised.

“The world is flat – but he didn’t say the world has no distance. For example, despite all the technical advances in virtual reality, you cannot kick the ass of someone across the Pacific Ocean.” My cynical friend finished while twisting his lips.