6 Questions I Didn’t Have An Immediate Answer To Without My Phone

Like, what is this character’s name again?

Frederik Verhagen
3 min readSep 21, 2022

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Screenshot from Encanto (©Disney 2021), featuring Antonio Madrigal (right) and what’s-his-name-again?

Unless I use a search engine, there are some questions I have trouble answering immediately. Sometimes, it’s on the tip of my tongue, like: “What’s the name of that guy in Encanto? I know he’s the son of Pepa and Félix, brother to Dolores and Antonio.”

I’ll not be delving into psychology or the reasons why people forget. Instead, I’ll list several questions I could only answer with my phone in hand.

Why do some currencies use large numbers?

There are currencies with bills containing many zeroes. Japan’s biggest bill is ¥10,000 (yen). Indonesia’s biggest bank note is Rp 100,000 (rupiah). In South Korea, the biggest note is ₩50,000 (won).

The reason for their large numbers is hyperinflation and devaluing of those currencies based on silver and gold prices. Especially after the country with said currency lost a war. Due to these changes, subdivisions became a thing of the past.

A commenter on Reddit provided a brief example of the Japanese yen. They could redenominate their currency, though that would take careful consideration because it needs to be more stable first. Also, people get confused and scared when significant changes happen in their lives.

Why is it important to reach clients even when you’re off the clock?

I’m looking at you, LinkedIn, with your Sales Navigator commercials. In them, a woman goes out with her family or congratulates her daughter on her stage performance. Then her phone rings, and she drops everything to answer it and help a client because, with LinkedIn’s product, you can “[r]each your customers when it matters most.”

I’ve been through burnout because of such reasoning. For two months a year, clients could reach out to me whenever they had a problem. And the customer is king. And if the king demands it, it must be tended to post haste!

It used to be that when you needed something and businesses were closed, you’d have to wait until they were open. This is still the case with small businesses, and corporations take…

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Frederik Verhagen

Stay-at-home father and dork who writes about creativity, science fiction, and little discoveries in life. 🔗 bumblebearcreations.carrd.co