education

It wasn’t the best road trip we had ever taken. We were on our way to visit my family in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, a trek of some 850 miles from our home in Arkansas. The fellow who had sold me the 1965 Chevrolet (an old car even then) told me it was a “cream puff” with low miles and a motor in top condition. Now though, the suspicious tapping noise coming from under the hood belied his description. As we slowed down in the sleepy little town about 60 miles from our destination, the severe vibration from the motor further inflamed my suspicions that this was not the babied little old lady’s vehicle I had been led to believe.

We limped the final miles at half speed and finally saw the end of our journey. A couple days of trying to pinpoint the problem under the hood got me nowhere, so I broke down and took the car to a local garage (a serious blow to my ego and checkbook). Their ace mechanic found and repaired the problem in less than 24 hours, with the admonition that the issue could rear its ugly head again without any advance warning. Since “forewarned is forearmed”, I took the opportunity before heading home to read up on the problem and its various remedies.

Sure enough, we had only been on the road home for about an hour and a half when we experienced the same problem. It was a Saturday afternoon and we assumed we were sunk. But as we rolled unsteadily north, we spied a garage with its overhead doors open and turned in. Oh, there were mechanics here, but they were finished for the week and were simply socializing with each other. As we explained our problem, they leapt to the inevitable conclusion that we would be spending the weekend in the local motel. The repair couldn’t be done on the spot, but the motor would have to be disassembled and the part sent to Kingsville, another 30 miles up the road. But a little knowledge is a great confidence builder, so I asked for a pry bar and a piece of rope, if they could also provide the valve spring I needed from their junk yard out back. Thirty minutes later, after a fair amount of exertion on my part and none at all on theirs, the problem was repaired and we were back on the road home.

I have to admit that even today, I want to gloat and remember the looks on their faces as the repair was effected. As we left, I asked for a couple of extra springs and the rope, which they gave to me, telling me that “anyone who could do that repair with a rope could have it for nothing!”. I showed these pros! Nanny, nanny, boo, boo! But, that attitude assumes that my victory was over the mechanics standing around that day and it would be the wrong conclusion to draw from the experience.

My conquest that day was not over any man, even the irritating gentlemen standing around making snide remarks. It certainly didn’t hurt that they were silenced by the feat, but the enemy was ignorance, not people. If I had paid my money to the first mechanic earlier in the week and trusted to dumb luck, my family would have been stranded in a strange town with nowhere to go (and very little money). Preparation paved the way for success, even in a field for which I have no affinity. I do not aspire to be a mechanic and that’s a good thing, since I hate being dirty. But, if I had not studied the problem, I would have had no idea of the cure and would have taken for granted that the best minds around (that shop anyway) knew the proper procedure for rectifying the issue.

Now, lest you get the wrong idea, let me disabuse you of the fallacious notion that I systematically prepare for life’s problems. I find myself constantly at a disadvantage through my penchant for rushing in with no study or rehearsal. In the week in question, I just acted enough out of character to achieve a resounding success and even though the life lesson is inescapable, I still fall flat on my face frequently.

The life lesson? First of all, preparation and learning make success possible, even probable. Way back in the 16th century, Francis Bacon said, “For also, knowledge itself is power.” Secondly, and just as importantly, arrogance directed at those who don’t share your experience sets you up for a fall. Those mechanics weren’t ignorant, they just had tunnel vision and couldn’t see other solutions than what they had been taught. If they were following Mr. Bacon’s advice, they also needed to know that the Apostle Paul had these words for men in similar situations, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” (I Corinthians 10:12 NASV)

We live in an incredible era, when knowledge is literally at our fingertips. When problems assail us, the answer is seconds away. This doesn’t mean that we’ll never need a professional, it just means that we can face the pro with the added leverage of a little knowledge of our situation. Take advantage of the opportunities which are afforded to expand your brain. There’s always more to discover! We can never stop learning, never stop seeking knowledge. Oh, and never, never assume that someone else won’t come along and show us up for the ignoramuses we really are.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.” (from Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr Seuss)

Smack! The baseball hit the six-year old boy right in the mouth and it took all the fortitude his young dad could muster to keep from running onto the field. The lad was at his first ever tee-ball practice and he was used to people lobbing softer balls toward him. This one had been thrown by another kid whose aim was a bit errant, so the sphere skimmed the hard dirt surface in front of him, bouncing up to batter a target it wasn’t intended for. But the dad stood where he was behind the fence and let the boy’s coach run out to check him. A little blood and a little more wounded pride, but he tearfully assured the coach that he would stay where he was and keep on with the practice.

On the way home later, the conversation went something like, “That ball hit you pretty hard out there.” “Yeah, and look at it now!” (Said with a split, puffy lip stuck out.) “You know, you can quit if you want to…” “Quit? I’m going to play baseball!” And play baseball, he did. It was about 9 years later that he finally put away the cleats and glove, after many different teams and All-Star games. He turned into a really good baseball player, but more than that, he became a young man who knew what it was to tough it out and go for his goals.

It’s been a few years since that young man showed the doggedness it took to stick through the pain and effort, but the early lessons keep bearing fruit 20 years later. Those lessons aren’t lost on the dad either, now a little older and a very small amount wiser. Of course, one of the things he’s learned is that these lessons are neither rare, nor remarkable. But sometimes, the reminder still helps to keep life in perspective.

This week, his youngest granddaughter took her first steps on her own. She turns one in another week or so, and her frame of reference is widening at an amazing rate (not that this is unusual, either). As we all do, she started out aware of only the most basic needs, food, sleep, a mother’s touch. As she’s grown, her scope has expanded also. Still very much self-absorbed, she realizes that she wants other things; brightly colored toys, different food than she usually has (even hot coffee), certain people (Grandma’s the best!). She even wants more mobility, but she herself is perfectly willing to leave the transportation to anyone who will carry her. She started crawling only out of the most dire need (Mama has 4 kids and was thoughtless enough to leave her on the floor!). And now, even though crawling is good enough, these adults around her keep standing her up and having her walk on the bottom of her feet.

And still today, she doesn’t really want to walk. She has to be put upright on her feet and have someone in front of her for whom she is motivated enough to put out the effort. She even fusses about it. But parents and grandparents understand that this is the next achievement in the natural progression. Yes, she’s going to fall down a time or two. She may even split her lip open, but this is how life moves along. We try new things even when we are frightened of the effort and the possibilities. And, the result is a complete person, one who has taken their fair share of licks and won their fair share of victories.

For today, she knows she’s done something really good. Everyone praises her and Grandpa sweeps her up in his arms, telling her how smart she is. It’s a picture that’s been seen millions of times before and will be repeated that many more times, but for right now, all she knows is that she’s done something stupendous, and the smile on her face is living proof.

Sometimes we forget that our lives are supposed to be spent learning and the pop-quizzes should come along fairly regularly. It is possible to become a drop-out. We just decide we’ve gotten the degree we want in the school of hard knocks and we’re done. Sit tight, do the same things every day, and no one will ever hit us in the mouth with anything. We figure we’ve learned everything that we need for our profession and just mark time. But we were never intended to be done, never intended to quit learning, never intended to sit on the sidelines watching. For many of us today, it’s confusing to see friends who refuse to learn about new technologies, refuse to contemplate and discuss current events, and refuse to take an active part in any unfamiliar activity. We live in an exciting time, when information is at our fingertips, facts are verified with the push of a few buttons, and new experiences await us at every turn. We were meant to live ’til we die!

You’d better be careful, little girl! One step leads to another all through your life! And watch out for those wild pitches…

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
(From “The Hobbit” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien)

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the Faith.”
(The Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7)

He's Taken Leave

Random wanderings with Paul Phillips

Don’t Act Mechanically!

Baby Steps and Split Lips