So, as I ate some mancakes for breakfast (exceptionally stout pancakes), I watched a Hispanic guy in my neighborhood interact with his son. He was loading the mechanical jeep his 3 year old drives into the bed of his pickup. the son knew what was going on and of course wanted to help. As the father basically lifted the entire jeep, the son "helped" lift the back end up. I can imagine the son felt like he was really helping, when in actuality, he wasn't doing any of the work needed.
Then I thought how at some point in time I got older and realized when it was that I was actually doing work. People around me didn't tell me I was helping when really I wasn't. We come to know the difference.
Then I thought about how I got older still, and went to school for engineering. I learned that indeed, the little kid was helping. Simply by maintaining contact, he was exerting some force. Whether or not it was substantial is null. Its impossible to keep contact without imposing a force. So, he really was helping.
Then I though how full I was because I had eaten too much pancake.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hey man. That was a great post. It actually is the kind of thing that makes me think a lot about what I've done here as I'm preparing to leave. Some of us came wanting to be the father, but we quickly realize we're more like the kid. I do hope that you're right about the kid accomplishing something.
Post a Comment