More difficult than it looks

Chapter 84

Everything is more difficult than it looks at first glance. I tried to convince my youngest daughter of that, when she wanted her husband and me to “build” her some custom made shelves to go inside her closets. Her husband and I are talented fellows, but not in the carpenter fashion. Our expertise lies elsewhere, and plus we did not have the proper tools to do such a job either, much less the knowledge. But we dove in . . . its her birthday, and she is pregnant. How could we say no?

Thankfully this work that we produced will forever be hidden in dark closets with the door pulled shut. Equally important is that I am pleased to still have all my fingers after all that sawing and cutting. This is not finished carpenters work by a million miles. This is what you would apprentice for, for maybe 3-5 years before you would pretend to call yourself a carpenter. Everything is more difficult than it looks at first glance, or how it appears on home remodeling shows. 

And then there is the movement to take merit and skill out of the mix. These people hate a meritocracy, because “everyone has value” and this is true. However not everyone has paid the price to become highly skilled and capable in a precise function. I personally want only the best plumber, carpenter, electrician, doctor, dentist and mechanic working on me and my stuff. The rest of you can hire people like me to do your carpentry if you want. Work done well with style and elegance and beauty takes real skill and practice and hard work - decades of it. Everything is more difficult than it looks.