My mother-in-law can be a pain in the ass sometimes.
Last weekend, her and my father-in-law came over to visit. She asked me a question about something, and I gave her an answer. She told me she was impressed that I knew that.
“Mom,” I replied, “You may not believe this, but there is a lot of stuff I know, and there is a lot of things I’m really good at doing.”
(in a STRONG, LOUD Southern accent) “Well daddy and I were talking the other day and we agreed that if you had to slaughter and gut a chicken, you’d never want to eat one again!”
My reply was that I knew how chickens were slaughtered (even though I was born in California) and not only that, but I can COOK a chicken better than most people. In my mind, that’s worth bragging about. Somebody else can do the killing.
Then this morning, I read an article saying a law was passed in California making it mandatory to teach cursive writing in elementary schools.
Why?
Maybe I’m jaded because penmanship was one of my worst subjects, but very early in life I decided to print my signature, not sign it. Not only that, but I could also never read my cursive writing and I was faster just printing. And then when I took typing in high school, I purposed to type just about anything. Which made computers so easy for me when they came out a few years later.
Slaughtering chickens and cursive writing have something in common. They are skills not every human needs in order to survive. Group that in with writing checks, addressing envelopes, using a stick shift, etc. And yet, we are encouraged to not let these outdated tasks die their natural death.
This week when faced with something that you’re encouraged to do, that has no relevance, consider the following:
- Assess its relevance: See if there is an updated way to do it or determine if it needs to be done at all.
- Research updates: Are there new technologies or processes that can be more effective?
- Experiment: Test alternative ways of doing something to see if they work better.
- Have grace: Anytime we challenge and old way of doing things, we are also challenging the people who put that process into place. They may be attached to it so approach them with grace.
This week, look at what you’re doing, saying, or believing. Still relevant? Keep at it.
Not relevant? Then think about new ways to approach a traditional task.
Gotta run. I have chicken on the smoker and it’s just about ready…