[sjanes]

- I ask for butter and walk away. - It passes the butter to where I expect it to be when I return. - That is its purpose.

[jameslk]

(Rick and Morty reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7HmltUWXgs)

[jayd16]

That's just a slow response with extra steps.

There's also the concept of a daemon process that looks for work to do and tells you about it without being prompted.

[candiddevmike]

Do you try to pull the butter onto your knife periodically, or do you wait somehow until it pushes the butter onto your knife? When does it become less work to just go get the butter yourself?

[DonHopkins]

You just need a self-buttering knife, like a self-licking ice cream cone:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-licking_ice_cream_cone