Saturday, April 23, 2005

Connections

When I was a young'un I took two empty bean cans and washed them out real good. Next I took a nail and popped a small hole in the bottom of each can. I took a length of string and poked an end through each hole and tied it off.

You probably see what I was doing. Some folks might say I was making a telephone. I guess maybe some folks call it that. I took my entertainment down to "Toe" Howard's. He ws a friend of mine. He still is come to think of it. We stretched that thing out and sure enough I could talk into one can and if he was holding his can to his ear and the string was tight, well he could hear what I was saying. Of course I could have yelled a little bit louder and he would have heard me without the cans and string.

There's a lesson or two here some place.

Takes two folks to talk over a string.
A string is only good as long as it's tight.
Talking with cans gets old unless you've got something to say.
If one person doesn't have the can to their ear when the other guy is talking he won't hear a darn thing.
Beans taste better when you take them out of the can.
String breaks.

I guess in a way that's what communication is all about. People have to take turns talking and listening. Takes two people unless you enjoy talking to yourself.

Communication can be a darn hard thing to do properly. Heck, folks have been trying different ways to communicate since they made animal sounds at each other. Come to think of it, some of us haven't progressed to much.

If you didn't hear what I'm saying it's because you haven't got the can to your ear. I'll get silent now and let somebody else talk.


G