When Silly Is Smart

We often realise that we've uttered a silly word when it's too late to take it back. A surgeon who got sued for injuring a patient was asked by the plaintiff's lawyer what he said on realising his mistake, and he said: "oops"! And the lawyer asked: " is oops! a medical term? And he said no. He asked further, "was oops taught to you in medical school?", and the answer was no again.

But the surgeon turned things around for it was in saying "oops" that the team of surgeons involved, turned their attention to mending the accidental damage. In the process, the team discovered an underlying problem that got sorted at no extra cost. If there was no "oops", there would be no surgical correction of the underlying condition. Silly became smart.

The year is at the mid-waypoint and those smart resolutions many had at the outset have morphed into either achievable or impossible wishes. Some must ask themselves if their resolutions were on point or merely, silly endeavours. A friend of mine conditioned himself to set up a new business besides an existing one. It was a silly one. He bought a water bowser to supply several neighbourhoods with water, as it was an acute commodity.

No sooner had he bought the bowser than the council availed piped water to all, and his endeavour was brought to an abrupt end. But not so soon. The same neighbourhood had suffered the neglect of sewer services and my friend converted his bowser into an exhauster service complete with the famous "honey sucker" phrase at the back of his truck's tank. He hates the job but loves the profits. He remained true to his new year's resolution to set up a second business. A silly beginning with a smart ending.

Another friend set out to run for the presidency, but recently, the IEBC never cleared him to contest for office. The first half of the year has had us listening to lofty ideas of what he would do for the country. But after the crashlanding, we've not seen him outdoors again. Let's hope that what seems silly now, will become a smart move in future.

I don't know how silly or smart this is to end this article here. Time will tell.