So I helped a friend move today.
Actually, I really helped a friend of a friend move today because I have only met the person I moved once before and that was last Monday.
Between being a fairly large (6’5″), “oh, he looks like he’d like to carry my solid oak desk by himself” person (of course the irony being I sit behind a computer all day) and the fact that I drove a truck for several years, I have moved a lot of people. I am not here to complain about moving people, though that might be different if I still had a truck (Note: someone with a truck does not automagically make them an interested moving service).
One of the things that moving day always highlights for me is how people utilize tools. Typically when you move, there is always at least a dolly or some other mechanical device designed to make moving things from point A to B easier. When you use them right. There is always an adventure when someone looks at something large and ungainly and says “You know, I bet we can put that on the dolly.” It’s been my experience that those words are definitely listed under “Famous Last Words.”
Sometimes it is just easier to carry the things. Yeah, while I made the crack about sitting behind a computer, I am a pretty big guy and carrying things is easier for me. For people who are injured or some other way disabled, I am with ya. But there’s a point when using tools, in this case perhaps a dolly, it becomes not only a crutch but is actually a hindrance.
Perhaps not quite similar, but it also reminds me of a busy parking lot. What I typically see is a lot of people running around in circles trying desperately to get a spot up front. Me, I just drive towards the back, find an easy space to park in and walk to where I am going. No stress, easy parking, and I get exercise so Nyaaaah!
It is way too easy for a tool to become a crutch. Just look at calculators (I’m guilty). But it is also easy for tools to become hindrances. Hopefully you’ve noted that I am not really talking just about moving here. One of the wonderful things about the human mind is our ability to create and use tools to our advantage. Laziness, however, is also one of our claims to genetic fame. And I think it is such a shame when people hold themselves back by trying to take the “easy” way which turns out to be a dead-end.
Just to offer a different perspective…
My life is all about tools and crutches. I mean, I agree that sometimes the tools aren’t necessary. But given that I depend on crutches on a daily basis for the most basic of tasks (bathroom, ambulation, etc), I’m not one to diss them.
I didn’t really make a strong case for my point in this entry, because my points is not saying that tools and crutches are unnecessary. I think that even when we are at our physical best, as humans, being able to create, use, and adapt tools are one of the things that make us who we are. So please do not think I am dissing them.
The point is, perhaps, less tangible. My post is not very well written and I think I did not really make a strong case for what I was trying to say, which is something like: I think that people, perhaps just those I am mainly exposed to in America, have become mentally and physically lazy and they can hold themselves back more than they realize by taking what appear to be shortcuts or the “easy” path. The moving and physical stuff got me thinking about it and was really intended to be more metaphoric.