What Napoleon Dynamite Can Teach Us About Communication

This post was spurred by some observations I made on an earlier Facebook note I wrote some months back.

My son and I are huge Napoleon Dynamite fans. One of our little inside jokey games we play with each other is to start a Napoleon Dynamite (NP for my sanity from here on out) riff, and have the other finish (”I think the school can use some Holy Santos… El Nino de Atocha is a good one I think…” Son: “My aunt says she saw him.”)

While NP may seem to be a trifle of a movie, it actually holds many good lessons on communication.

In fact, the movie can be said to be entirely about communication (or miscommunication) and the consequences of each.

Every time a character makes assumptions something funny happens. NP assumes that his grandma is too old to have a boyfriend. He assumes Pedro is in a gang because Pedro is Hispanic. He assumes that it is easy to earn money. He assumes Kip is incapable of anything.

But when they listen to each other and heed good advice, good things follow. When Pedro tells NP that he can draw well and can use that to get a date to the Prom, NP draws a picture of Trish and gets a date; when NP tells Pedro to simply tell the school to say “vote for me, and your wildest dreams will come true” - and then Pedro does - he becomes class president.

The movie also has something to say about how the familiar can make us insular and isolated from outsiders.
There is a classic scene where Lyle, the next door neighbor farmer, tells the chicken farmer “over there is that creek where I found a couple of Shoshone arrowheads.” Of course, this is said in a mumble that it took me some dozen or so viewings to decipher - yet the chicken farmer nodded as if he heard every word clearly (probably because they have spent a lifetime together as friends) and understood the whole thing. Yet when NP asks “do the chickens have large talons?” the farmer acts as if NP is from Mars and says he doesn’t understand a word he just said. Yet NP is the only one we CAN understand.

So the next time you catch NP on cable or DVD, try doing so paying attention to how the characters (mis)communicate with each other. I have gained a whole new respect for the guys who put this film together and how well they executed the finished product (especially for a small budget film).

“Minute Clinics”

My wife and I were talking this morning about health care, and how good our experiences have been with “minute clinics” - those little clinics located inside of pharmacies, groceries stores, and big box megastores (those that shall remain unnamed).

It’s becoming harder and harder to conveniently schedule a “normal” doctor’s office visit. When you do get an appointment, it’s never on time, the doctor is rushed because he makes more money the more patients that he sees, and each time you go there are new rules regarding what is covered in a visit, payment methods accepted, insurance coverages… in short, it is inconvenient and generally an unsatisfying experience.

Minute Clinics, on the other hand, are rarely busy. Appointments are not necessary - you just walk right up. These clinics are normally staffed by R.N.s or some sort of nurse practitioner. The times I have gone to one of these clinics, the nurse has spent a considerable amount of time with me - I estimate 2-3 times the amount of time spent on me with my “normal” physician.

These clinics are going to be more and more disruptive in the delivery of health care; and I predict that they will drive down the number of traditional physician’s offices in the very near future because they deliver better and more timely service.

The downside is that these clinic visits run about $50 a visit, but worth it in convenience and attention, in my opinion.

So, if you have something short of lab work that you need but need something better than over the counter cold medicine, I highly recommend the Minute Clinic.