I’m not sure why, but it seems to me that a surprisingly large segment of the population likes to make things more difficult for themselves for no apparent or particular reason. Maybe it’s because we have run out of actual problems, and feel the need to create our own. That isn’t to say that the struggle isn’t real, as my friends in the community often opine. I imagine that somewhere in this country there is a tiny slice of society that is more than a twelve minute drive from the nearest dollar store, as inconceivable as that may seem. I haven’t seen one in a minute, but there are still vehicles on the road with manual crank windows. And maybe there is a remote area on the globe where luggage doesn’t have wheels. Can you imagine? I’m all for shelter, food, clothing, clean water, blah, blah, blah, but leaving those in the third world without wheeled luggage is unconscionable, at least in this obscure blogger’s mind. How many years did it take to figure out that it was easier to lug a 48 pound container through the airport, bus station, or back alleys if it had wheels on it? I put the genius that first developed bags with wheels on my innovator’s Mt. Rushmore with Willis Carrier, inventor of the air conditioner. Whoever came up with a working remote control belongs on there too, btw. But I digress.
I’d like to cite a couple of examples to prove my point that many do not adhere to the K.I.S.S. principle. That’s Keep It Simple Copernicus for the uninformed. Exhibit A is fly fishing. Fishing has been around since there has been both people and fish. I always like to consider the back stories of certain activities. Did available game on terra firma become difficult or dangerous to catch? Who discovered these denizens of the sea, and figure that they would be suitable for food, especially sautéed in butter with a spritz of lemon and sprig of parsley? Tangentially, who was the first person hungry enough to catch and eat a crab? Because of the sketchy WiFi in the days before Christ, internet archives of methods and equipment are scarce. We do have documented evidence in the Scriptures of men casting nets. To me this seems like the most efficient practice. Mind you, those dudes were fishing for a living. The thought of “catch and release” sport fishing would have been anathema. It’s like sitting in a Ruth’s Chris and taking the filet mignon back into the kitchen, not because it wasn’t cooked as requested, but because the process of looking at the menu, ordering it, and waiting for it to be served was in and of itself satisfying enough. We know from the following ancient proverb that anybody can learn to fish: “Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will try to convince his wife that he needs a $45,000 bass boat.” Similarly, fly fishing requires expensive gear, skilled casting, limited access, and not much bang for your buck.
“How much did that 10″ rainbow trout cost?”
“About three and a half day’s pay. Why are you asking???”
Exhibit B in my illustration, or as I like to call it “Exhibit B”, is a typical DIY home project. You watched HGTV, looked at YouTube videos, walked through your local Hobby Lobby, and now you are ready to build the TV stand of your dreams out of discarded wooden pallets, angle iron, and wagon wheels. It doesn’t take long to find out that these materials are a lot harder to gather than the experts said. So you bite the bullet and pay for them, rationalizing in your mind that you are saving money because you aren’t paying Big Retail. What you soon come to grips with is the reality that the pros on HGTV and YouTube have what you don’t, i.e. proper tools. Expensive, specialized tools. You look in your toolbox and find a universal screwdriver, an allen key from the bookshelf you bought at IKEA, a flashlight with corroded batteries, a rusty steak knife, and random taillight bulbs you bought for a car you drove back and forth to college. You have to buy the necessary tools, because all of your friends have similar “toolkits”. You convince yourself that the tools are an investment; surely the TV stand is the first of many projects. After all, in for a dime, in for a dollar. This is why the national debt is 31 trillion dollars, but who’s counting? Finally, and most humbling is the stark and irrefutable fact that you are worse than all thumbs. It is as if you have porpoise flippers instead of hands with opposable thumbs in regards to construction acumen. $623 in and all you’ve got to show for it is a pile of wood scraps and barely used power tools that will gather dust in your garage. Your wife reminds you that she saw an attractive and functional TV stand on Overstock.com for 29 bucks. Murder in this instance may be justifiable but is probably illegal, you tell yourself.
How much of our time and sweat equity are wasted in pursuit of making things easier or more simple? When it comes to fishing or DIY projects, it’s not that important. But in eternal matters, over complicating things have significant ramifications.
Am I keeping the main thing the main thing?
(Click “Stand on Firmer Ground” for a deeper look into Fly Fishing)