When we’re born, we’re given a bucket and sent up a mountain. While we’re climbing this mountain we meet people along the way who upon meeting us, pick up a handful of dirt from the ground and put it into our bucket. As they release the dirt from their hand they teach us something. The lessons at the base of the mountain are the basics we learn growing up. “Two plus two equals four,” one will say as they empty their fist. “Treat others as you would want others to treat you,” says another.
And as you climb this mountain and you get older, and you grow, the lessons become more complicated. “Life isn’t fair.” “People only say ‘life isn’t fair’ when they require your life to be unfair.” “Never buy an Apple product without checking tech blogs to make sure a new version isn’t coming out in a month.” And we continue to climb the mountain and the lessons become even more complex and timely. “A lot of countries hate each other and the people who started it are long dead.” “People on the news like to yell a lot, trust yourself and your opinions.” “Wear a condom.”
But eventually you reach the top of the mountain with all your lessons in your bucket, and you empty that heavy burden on top of the mountain. You take your place on top of the fresh earth and wait for the next generation of climbers to pass your way with their buckets in hand. Now it’s your turn to place a handful of dirt in their bucket. What you teach them is up to you, but it is your responsibility to make this a taller, stronger mountain.
Each generation’s bucket is bigger than the last because the mountain is ever growing and there are more people to meet and lessons to be learned along the way. Because of this, with each passing generation the mountain gets harder to climb, but when you get to the top, you’re standing on an even greater wealth of knowledge and experience. And while the lessons you learned along the way may not always be exactly what you wanted to hear, the view from the top has never been better.
I just finished watching American Beauty and now I read this little tale. This is going to be one of those evenings. Time to put on Steel Magnolias and ring my mum, I guess.
(PS: I love those nights!)
Great story. I think that the Internet is also expanding the mountain as well. I am old enough to remember what life was like a few years before the Internet became commonly accessable. In high school I had to look up a lot of things the long slow way. Now more information and collective wisdom is available much more easily than ever before!
A complication is that kids are growing up even faster than before. There are lots of more complex social dynamics at play now as well.
I bet those first several handfuls of dirt you dole out feel a bit disappointing, since they just get dumped again a few feet later.
Wow, aren’t you philosophical today. The trick is to know which dirt to keep and which to toss aside. There’s a lot of bad dirt out there, but lots of good too.
I like it! But it’s way too early to be waxing so philosophical. I think I need 2 or 3 more cups of coffee…
Thanks for the kind words everyone!
Anyone else getting the new iPhone today? I just made my reservation on the Apple website and will hopefully be able to pick it up after work. It seemed too easy so I won’t believe it until it’s in my hand. I didn’t upgrade after the 3G came out, so this will be like a double upgrade for me. I’m excited!
Sven: “Call your mother” was gonna be one of the examples I used, but switched it at the last minute for the Apple one. That’s really funny!
There are no toilets along the trail. That’s one thing that makes the mountain grow. Be mindful of what sort of dirt you put in your pail, and what dirt you pick up and give away.
I think, that you never reach the peak of your own mountain (that would be so boring) and that even the younger generations have some good dirt to share.
“He who rests on his own laurels is wearing them in the wrong spot” (don’t remember who)
Sry Craig, your self-help corny side just irks me. But there’s a big market for this stuff, so what do I know right?
Great story! I just got a 3G a little while ago so I’m kind of mad at Apple right now for not giving me a heads up…but I still love my iphone.
Craig: I like it! “Never buy an Apple product without checking tech blogs to make sure a new version isn’t coming out in a month.” LOLZ!!
David from Brazil: We all have a side of Craig that we like. I like his funny side, Polt likes his back side, it’s all good.
TwoPi: No kidding about the dirt, lord knows we’ve all gotten what we thought was dirt, but wasn’t. I just hope I give less than I’ve received.
Hey Craig–I got some dirt for your mountain, “When a party invitation says ‘RSVP’, it means that the party giver needs to know how many people are coming so that the correct amount of food is ordered.” Please pass it along to your family.
Hmm, a little too philosophical for me as well. However, it was well written and insightful. What would I tell the people in the way past me? “It is better to regret something you did do than something you did not.” and “He who dies having laughed the most, wins.” and “If you’re cute, lean, young, and male, c’mere and sit next to me, I got some more…intimate things to tell you.”
john: I do INDEED like his backside. I like his intelligence and thoughtfulness as well, but I really don’t desire to SEE them…doubt they’d be very droolworthy.
TwoPi: Great comment about the non-dirt.
HUGS…
Sorry Nicolle! I just sent you an email. We’re looking forward to it!
I just got my confirmation from Apple and I can’t get it till Friday. Boo
I think I’m gonna call after work anyway and see if they have any more in stock.
are you having an existential crisis of some sort? read the tao of pooh (yes that pooh)
and i thought the new iphone came out on friday… AT&T told me it was coming in the mail…
No iphone here. In fact in Canada I think they only became available last year (we’re so behind the wave up here). I’m usually last on the bandwagon, I have a phone that works that I rarely use. That’s sufficient. I think our service fees for the iphone are outrageous as well.
I’m not an Apple fan. I still spend most of my time with my ipod cursing it because it won’t do what I want it to do.
Awww, darn it! My computer glitched and I lost my original comment. it figures, it’s been one of those mornings. Here’s my handful of dirt: “keep your #$%ing computer problems to yourself until I have had my coffee or I will ram a stapler up your mudhole, sideways.” grumble, grumble… the morning people better stay out of the way of cranky old man Nicodemus…
Polt: I actually assumed you, like the rest of us, like most sides of Craig. I certainly didn’t mean to boil you down to only liking his back side.
iPhones are evil. They lead you with promises of food and fun, but you discover that there is no food or fun in that part of Pittsburgh.
Ryan: Everyone keeps telling me that its not that there is no food or fun in that PART of Pittsburgh, its that there is no food or fun in Pittsburgh at all.
Not sure that’s true or not.
Cupcake: The cake is a lie.
Tam: We found a couple good places to eat, but downtown was pretty much dead in the evenings.
Jeff said Pittsburgh was voted most livable city:
http://circleinsquares.blogspot.com/2009/06/pittsburgh-is-1again.html
Ryan: Well, I’ll likely not be looking for clubs to take my daughter to when I’m there this summer. LOL That’s kind of like areas of downtown Toronto, its a ghost town and even finding a restaurant in the financial district is hard in the evening. Unlike the parts of town that Polt hangs out in.
John: not only is the cake a lie, it is delicious.
M. Nico: Up your mudhole, sideways! My brand new most favoritest expression Evah! I shall make every attempt to insert this lil bit of swearing bueaty into my conversations.
john: It’s okay…it may just be that that’s my favorite side.
Tam: I’m told Liberty Street in Pittsburgh is quite a…festive area. Like Church Street in Toronto. ANd “in the parts of Toronto that I hang out in”? Well, there are a lot of restaurants, you are correct. And “hard in the evening”…yep, I got that too, the parts that I hang out in!
HUGS…
My siblings and I got our father an iPhone for his 50th birthday (and we payed for a few months too, we had to ask him in advance if it was ok, because he’d be on the hook for the rest of the fees) but I’m not sure that he’s quite figured out how to use the apps and things.
I wish I had a good reason to buy an iPhone, but since I moved to Nowheresville I have given up on cell phones all together. After almost a year of paying $60 a month to make two local calls I had to conclude that owning a cell phone was not a sound economical investment. You will have to tell us all about your new toy when you get it so I can geek out vicariously through you
M. Nico: In which part of the country do you live?
Polt: While Liberty Ave. apparently did have a few gay bars, I couldn’t find them without the internet, which was down at my hotel. Without the internet, it looked like the straightest avenue ever.
John: the wooly wilds of California, at the farthest possible point from our Cupcake (not intentionally of course)
I think it’s intentional.
Who else was expecting M. Nico to say he lived in an ingloo?
Ryan: How was the presentation yesterday? A raging success?
Craig: Most people think up the one living in the igloo up in the great white north.
Tam: It was meh, but thanks to everyone for the well wishes.
Craig: I was tempted to say Thorn Valley, but I didn’t think anyone would get it.
Ryan: I hope the presentation went well
Craig: Either an igloo or in some desert a-la Owen and Beru.
Oh, and though he hasn’t been by yet today: Happy Birthday Jomosexual!
Cupcake: I’ve never been to Liberty myself, I was just relaying info. But frankly, I’m more concerned about a hotel in a major city NOT having Internet! I mean, its Pittsburgh, for God’s sake, not Yellowknife (smiling Tam’s way).
HUGS…
Polt: It had internet. It was just down all week.
John: I wouldn’t want to live in the desert like that, bad things happen there.
M. Nico: LOL!
Happy Birthday Joe!!!
I _think_ I may finally get the iPhone 3gs. I did not think it was supposed to be available before Friday. I am just concerned that AT&T’s idea of “good” coverage is having to go outside to use your phone. I was also concerned by the level of dropping we experianced. I had AT&T years ago, but switched to Verizon because the service was weak at home and work. I think I will have an iPhone owning friend come over to test out coverage for me. My only reservation is AT&T. I love the idea of the iPhone 3gs. I am tired of waiting for the perfect smart phone. I just hope the service is OK.
Chris D: Yeah, I just looked it up online and it appears only to be available on the 19th. So yay for me (hopefully) getting it on the first day. I definitely recommend it even though AT&Ts service s spotty.
Chris D.: That is exactly why we don’t have iPhones. We had AT&T and the service was horrible, phone and customer service. Well, that and I barely use and hate my phone now, I don’t want to spend the money on something I barely use.
Pittsburgh still contains my lying liar of a cheating ex, which renders it scorched earth, as far as I’m concerned. Living there was easily the worst three years of my life, and only partly because of him. The skyline is lovely, though, and I do confess to missing Penn Mac and the Church Brew Works.
As my little krzr slips into obsolescence, I dream wistfully of having an iPhone, but economy dictates that I wait. Besides, I’m not entirely certain how well it would work for me in terms of functionality now that I’ve made the move to Ubuntu.
Wow. John Cho (who played Sulu in the new Star Trek) turns 37 today. He seems so much younger. Looks like he’s closer in age to his counterpart on the original show than I thought.
Really? I didn’t think he was out of his 20′s.