"Yeah, No"

We chuckle, in my family, when the topic comes up about the seemingly contradictory reply that goes somewhat like this: "Yeah...no."

It turns out this is considered a typically Californian thing to say. Little did I know, transplanted New Yorker that I am, steeped in California-isms for only the past few decades. Subsequently, like the frog lounging in the once-cool pot of water, I hardly realized the temperature was rising among language nazis. Answering someone in a friendly conversation with something along the lines of "Yeah, no" makes perfect sense when you fill in the rest of the blanks: that the other person in the conversation has just made a statement about something with a negative connotation; you, in turn, first agree with that negative statement, and then go on to confirm that negative assessment. Like, "Yeah, no."

While that may make perfect sense to a Californian—native or adopted—when it comes to my feelings about my next genealogy trip, that same phrase strikes me today much the same as most people actually translate that Californian figure of speech. Yes, I do want to get up and go, but no, I don't. I'm still tired from the last genealogy conference I attended. And following that one, there will be another.

I can't help it if I like my learning to be social. To me, learning is essentially interactive. It is so much more than just taking in the information blurted out by a talking head. I want two way communication. Questions. Responses building on added information. Connections. Networking. Building on possibilities. But sometimes, the effort to achieve that learning state can, in itself, be exhausting.

So, if you are talking to me and make a two-part comment like, "I don't think you learn as much from a session if you just sit at home and take it in by live-streaming—do you?" I can provide my corresponding two-part response: "Yeah, no that isn't my best way of learning, either."

But that is a moot point anyhow, if we are considering attending the October conference hosted in Kansas City by the Association of Professional Genealogists, for this year, they won't be live streaming or recording their sessions. No virtual attendance. If you want to be there, you simply must actually, you know, be there. Like, deciding to go, before the online registration deadline on Wednesday, September 26. Or another week before that, if you don't want to pay a king's ransom for airfare.

To which I still can't help but think, "Yeah, no." Yeah, I want to be part of the action. But no, I'm not looking forward to all the effort of getting there. In my case, it's not the 1,720 mile journey that I'm looking forward to. If anything will carry me away to Kansas City, it will be the anticipation of all the great meetings and classes that are in store for those who made the effort to get there.