Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Useless Defenses
It's been about two months since Hurricane Ivan threatened the loveliest village on the plains, but you can still see vestiges of that strange week around town. We weren't sure how bad it was going to be, but our professors inspired us with horror stories from Opal, and Tuesday afternoon big X's adorned many storefronts and upstairs windows. Some people got really elaborate, as if duct tape was the new lamb's blood, heavy winds the Angel of Death, and furniture the firstborn sons of Auburn. Pass us over is what it did--all of us.
The tape was an unnecessary precaution, in the end.
This morning I noticed an upstairs window that still had tape all over it. I chuckled with the hindsight that said it was all useless anyway. Maybe the same futility of putting it up is what now makes taking it down seem like a wasted effort.
But then I realized--I do it, too: build defenses against potential damage, based on past losses. Then I forget to take them down when the danger's past (or never comes), and I can't see past my own barriers.
You do it, too, don't you? All the time.
Let's take the tape off the windows: the storm's never as bad as we anticipate!
The tape was an unnecessary precaution, in the end.
This morning I noticed an upstairs window that still had tape all over it. I chuckled with the hindsight that said it was all useless anyway. Maybe the same futility of putting it up is what now makes taking it down seem like a wasted effort.
But then I realized--I do it, too: build defenses against potential damage, based on past losses. Then I forget to take them down when the danger's past (or never comes), and I can't see past my own barriers.
You do it, too, don't you? All the time.
Let's take the tape off the windows: the storm's never as bad as we anticipate!
