Sunday, March 26, 2006
They can send a man to the moon ...
You know what's coming next: ... but they can't - and here you insert some miserable failure to solve a simple problem, like "make a jar that's easy to open." We've all heard it, and most of us have said it. So why should I be different?
They can send a man to the moon, but they can't make shoelaces that don't come undone.
There are some problems with this formulation, chiefly having to do with "they". Yes, they - NASA - can send a man to the moon, but it's not the same they who make the shoelaces. That might be two guys named Moe in a garage. And it took NASA who knows how many billion dollars before they got a man to the moon, whereas the research and development budget of the Acme Shoelace Company is probably about five dollars and a banana. Besides, NASA did manage to send a man to the moon, but they also managed to blow up a lot of missiles and get several astronauts killed in the attempt. So maybe I don't want them designing and making my shoelaces. They'd cost $25.00 a pair and explode occasionally.
That said, the state of shoelaces is pretty sad. I mean, they're shoelaces. How hard can it be to make a long string that when knotted doesn't come undone? Lately, every time I go out in my winter boots, I have to stop before I get where I'm going and retie them. Alternatively, I can shlep along with the laces undone, looking like one of the Sauve brothers I went to public school with. And they blew their noses directly onto the sidewalk, and ate mud.
They can send a man to the moon, but they can't make shoelaces that don't come undone.
There are some problems with this formulation, chiefly having to do with "they". Yes, they - NASA - can send a man to the moon, but it's not the same they who make the shoelaces. That might be two guys named Moe in a garage. And it took NASA who knows how many billion dollars before they got a man to the moon, whereas the research and development budget of the Acme Shoelace Company is probably about five dollars and a banana. Besides, NASA did manage to send a man to the moon, but they also managed to blow up a lot of missiles and get several astronauts killed in the attempt. So maybe I don't want them designing and making my shoelaces. They'd cost $25.00 a pair and explode occasionally.
That said, the state of shoelaces is pretty sad. I mean, they're shoelaces. How hard can it be to make a long string that when knotted doesn't come undone? Lately, every time I go out in my winter boots, I have to stop before I get where I'm going and retie them. Alternatively, I can shlep along with the laces undone, looking like one of the Sauve brothers I went to public school with. And they blew their noses directly onto the sidewalk, and ate mud.
# posted by Stephen @ 11:32 a.m. 
