With the exception of this present venue, there seems to be an effort to squeeze words out of our vocabulary. Take a look at most sets of instructions - light fixture installation, windshield washer replacement, etc. - crude drawings have replaced the written word. How far we've come as a society!
My favorite example is my lawn mower. Having treated myself to a self-propelled mower, I went the extra mile and picked up a 2-speed model. On the left side of the mower sits the throttle that controls 6.5 horses of raw power. And how is this throttle labeled? High and low? Fast and slow? Nope, it is labeled with pictures - of a rabbit and a turtle.
Now the casual observer would likely reason that rabbits run fast while turtles tend to meander at a rather slow pace. Therefore, rabbit is fast and turtle is slow, right? Well not so fast, Peter Cottontail. What about the story of the tortoise and the hare? We all know who won that race, don't we? And it wasn't the rabbit. It was the turtle!
So let us now extend that logic to the lawn mower. If I want finish mowing as fast as possible, do I trust the outward appearance of rabbits being faster or do I follow the legend of the tortoise and the hare? If I set that lever on rabbit, will I find my mower darting hither and yon across my yard, stopping to talk to the neighbor and generally focusing on everything but mowing the lawn? Conversely, if I shift the lever over to the turtle side, will I find the mower moving so painfully slow that I'll have to start mowing again as soon as I'm done just to keep up?
Two simple words could have solved this conundrum for me - fast and slow (or even high and low). Instead, these crude drawings have led me to merely contemplate - where should I set that lever?
Meanwhile, my lawn is now a foot tall.
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6 comments:
No let me get this straight. Is it a human foot tall or a rabbit's foot tall. Big difference you know (especially with my Size 15 feet). You know what they say about men with big feet? They have big real estate, if you know what I mean. Of course, you don't, but let's just say your wife is usually betting that "hubby needs new baby shoes". Now back to your diatribe of how we've somehow circled back from Cro-Magnon days. I do think there is some merit in visual symbols such as the "Don't Walk" signs. However, I would suggest we replace "Don't Walk" with a Rabbit symbol and similarly use a Turtle instead of the "Walk" sign. Alternatively, when in a large city, we could use a "Run like a Rabbit out of Hell" but we may need to enlarge the sign a wee bit. I generally prefer "Run like the dickens because driver is freaken blind and doesn't care if your standing on the sidewalk shaking" sign myself.
I'll bet you're used to seeing visual symbols, especially from other drivers.
Bozo the clown had size 15 shoes; you know the old saying, if the shoe fits...
Ever notice that Bozo was always surrounded by girlfriends? By the way, how did you get the nickname "Stubby?". Seems to fit your size 7 sneakers.
Weren't Bozo's girlfriends all under age 10?
at least they were girls
and your point is?
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