Talking about physics

Yesterday's NY Times ran an essay by Michael Tuts titled "I'm a Particle Physicist. Want to Chat?" in which he laments the fact that nobody wants to chat him up about his work. It prompted me to think about our habit of putting difficult subjects we are studying out of our minds except for those specific times we schedule to think about them, i.e. in class (one hopes) or when cramming the night before an exam. Because of my lack of knowledge, I'm pretty much the person who would decline to discuss physics with anyone, especially a physicist. Imagine my surprise when he mentioned the Bernoulli effect -- the only thing I really learned in physics (sorry, Dr. Packard). Suddenly, I'm inspired to find a physicist and talk things over.