We chat with Felicity Lewis about Why Do People Queue for Brunch?
As the national Explainer editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age - Felicity Lewis has a unique insight into the modern mysteries that keep Australians up at night.
Her new collection Why Do People Queue for Brunch? explores some of the most fascinating facts and curiosities across health, science, culture and human behaviour.
Felicity shares with us some of the most surprising facts she's gathered from this collection and gives her tips on the best ones to share at parties and barbecues this summer.
A&U: Hey Felicity! Thanks so much for chatting with us. First up, do you have a favourite explainer from Why Do People Queue for Brunch?
FL: I like the title piece. I might be biased, as I co-wrote it but I like unpacking human behaviour. I interviewed people queuing outside a trendy eatery; some were there reluctantly but others were fully embracing it as a social event. I also looked into sociology and history of queues. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the dead would line up in a hall of truth to be judged worthy (or not) of entry to the afterlife. Apparently, a goddess handed out cups of Nile water to anyone who was thirsty. It reminded me of proprietors today who hand out cups of tea or put on entertainment for customers as a way to make the queue an “experience”.
But I do like all of the 26 explainers a lot – that’s why they’re in the book. There are laugh-out-loud bits, not least in Where did budgie smugglers come from? and moments that are poignant, including in What’s it like to have Tourette’s? There are so many stories you can relate to. The explainer on How does a person get lost and found? is centred around a woman called Madeleine, who took a few wrong steps off a bush track and was missing in the forest for days. When I was editing it, I kept thinking, There but for the grace of God go I – because I have a terrible sense of direction.
A&U: Is there anything you’ve learnt from these explainers that surprised you?
FL: Where to start? This one is kind of gross: I didn’t know that teeth extractions were once a form of public entertainment – people had a rotten tooth pulled out with an instrument called a “pelican” in the town square. Top tip: If you ever find yourself at sea on a big ship staring down a rogue wave, try to sail head-on into it, otherwise you and your ship risk getting smashed up. Also, I didn’t know that the deepest hole that humans have ever dug goes down 12 kilometres; or that the world’s smallest “sand castle” is etched on a grain of sand; or that NASA is creating a new time zone for the Moon called Lunar Co-ordinated Time – “Houston time” just doesn’t cut it when there are so many countries sending missions up there. And another thing: I thought the Earth’s population would just keep increasing forever but in fact, it will eventually fall. We explain when and why in the book.
A&U: If you could recommend one explainer to read ahead of Christmas drinks to use as a great conversation starter – what would it be?
FL: What about Can we learn the art of conversation? Yes, it would be a pretty “meta” choice but it’s got lots of pithy anecdotes and advice about how to start chatting with strangers and how to keep it bubbling along. We hear from a diplomat, a real-estate agent, a politician and others as well as experts in etiquette and communication. When the US president Theodore Roosevelt had guests in the White House, he’d first find out their hobbies and study up on those, so he was never short of conversation. And, apparently, compliments (so long as they’re sincere) can be great ice-breakers. “I love your shoes!” But don’t you hate it when you’re talking to someone and they start looking over your shoulder! Also, this is my non-expert idea, but if you think the Christmas drinks need shaking up, you could do an impromptu demonstration of a honeybee’s waggle dance, which I did recently in our newsroom while I was editing the chapter Why bees do a waggle dance? It went down a treat. Honey bees use the dance as a code to point to where honey is – the better the honey, the more vigorously they waggle. This was a Nobel prizewinning discovery. There’s even a diagram of it in the book.
A&U: What’s a modern mystery you’d like explained?
FL: Why knowing you shouldn’t laugh makes you want to laugh more. And, what’s the point of daydreaming?
Why Do People Queue for Brunch?
Edited by Felicity Lewis
Does handwriting still matter? What are rogue waves? What do our teeth reveal about us? A compelling compendium of astonishing facts and occasional weirdness for curious minds.
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