[MD] Stuck on a Torn Slot

[ADRIE KINTZIGER]

Thanks , Dan, tomorrow  i will react on this.
Thanks.
adrie

2010/12/3 Dan Glover <daneglover at gmail.com>

> Soul as a Verb
>
> I have some extra parts left over.
>
> The old boy whom I hired to rebuild carburetors for me seemed
> perplexed. Call him Ed. I explained that the kit was made for several
> different makes and that was why he ended up with seeming extra parts.
> At least I hoped that was why. I have to admit though, the fact that
> Ed didn't know that caused me a bit of consternation.
>
> I don't work as well with people as I do with machines. They say I
> have a knack. And I suppose it is true. I just seem to know what to do
> when it comes to machinery. But, when it comes to dealing with people,
> I am for the most part flummoxed. I get pissed when someone doesn't
> catch on right away.
>
> Let me see, I said. I hate having to do work over again that I have
> already paid someone else to do, and I could hear the anger in my
> voice. So could Ed. And I felt bad that I was angry with Ed but I
> couldn't help it. I popped the cover off and checked to see if any
> seals were missing. It seemed okay. But I was still pissed.
>
> I dislike it when someone claims to know something when it is clear
> they do not know. The thing is though, sometimes they don't know that
> they don't know and there is no telling them. I mutter to myself that
> they are idiots but it is more than that. They have no soul... not a
> soul as a thing, a noun, but rather soul as a verb, as caring action.
>
> Don't bother coming in tomorrow, Ed, I say. He has a hurt look but I
> don't care.
>
> The building that serves as my motorcycle shop is a hundred years old.
> It once housed a butcher shop. Years ago, they'd butcher cows and pigs
> and keep the meat cool with ice they cut from the river during winter,
> sprinkling saw dust over the ice to act as insulation. The floor of
> the shop was made of foot-thick cork, again, to act as insulation from
> the summertime warmth. When I bought the building the floor was rotten
> so I hired a local boy to tear it out and replace it with concrete. We
> added a pneumatic floor lift at that time so as to make it convenient
> to change oil in cars and do brakes and other mechanical work.
>
> Winter is coming... and the bike shop doesn't do well in the winter.
> The last couple years I've rented the place out to a couple brothers
> who diddle daddle with stock cars. They like my pneumatic lift. And it
> has served me well too. Still, in a town of 300, there are only so
> many cars that need oil changes and brake jobs, which kind of
> supplemented the income I made during spring and summer working on
> motorcycles. But it wasn't enough to keep the lights turned on and the
> taxes paid, so I rented the shop out three months a year. The brothers
> were good enough to let me come in and work when I had work.
>
> This year, though, they are not renting the shop. I guess they don't
> have the extra money. So I printed up some flyers to try and scare up
> work,  otherwise I will have to go into my pocket to pay for the
> building's upkeep. I justified hiring Ed by telling myself the work
> would be there. And it might. But, if I cannot depend on him to do
> what he claims he knows how to do, then I may as well just do the work
> myself.
>
> I feel stuck. Machines, I can fix. People, I can't. I suspect it is
> the difference between soul as a noun versus a verb. And I suspect
> that is exactly what Robert Pirsig is on about in ZMM when he talks
> about stuckness. He uses the torn slot in a screw to explain that
> stuckness but in my case, it pertains to people rather than machines.
> Still, the analogy is the same.
>
> I realize as Ed is leaving that I've effectively fired him over a
> simple misunderstanding but I still don't care. I tell myself to shout
> out to him that I am sorry... go ahead and come on in tomorrow. But I
> don't say anything. I just let him leave. I know that there will be
> hard feelings but I still don't care. The thing is, a machine has no
> feelings.
>
> Maybe that's why I like working with machines better than with people.
>
> Thank you for reading,
>
> Dan
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