Leah and I took Ava to breakfast yesterday at the Hamburg Inn (Kim, I never see you there anymore!). It was yummy, as always. As I was paying la cuenta on the way out the door, I eavesdropped on a young man at a nearby table who was trying to explain to a non-native English speaker what catch-22 means. I gathered that the topic had come up in relation to the Heller novel. The fellow doing the explaining — bless him — was really butchering it, and I felt bad that his friend was going to leave that place with such bad information.
I mentioned the exchange to Leah after we left, and she asked, “Well, how would you explain it?” I replied that I’d probably start by framing the explanation with the concept of being damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Leah said, “Like being between a rock and a hard place.” I thought about it again this morning, and I thought to myself, “You know, my super-literate and smart readers would have some good ideas on this.” So, how would you most concisely explain what catch-22 means? Let’s go, people! Those comments ain’t going to write themselves!