Men

9.3.2023

If your goal is to see a man, there are many ways to make this happen. One way is that you can go to the lumberyard. If you go to the lumberyard, you are likely to see a man. You might even see more than one. 

The lumberyard is connected to the hardware store. You will probably also see a man in the hardware store. Look! There is a man in the hardware store now. He is looking at epoxy. Look at him looking at epoxy -- he knows what is what. This is a man who knows epoxy. He can compare two tubes from two brands and skim the small print on the label and say - "THIS one." 

He knows how to use a jigsaw. He probably says things like - "...normally I would say this calls for an A-frame, but with galvanized L-brackets drilled into the studs of the supporting wall it should be structurally solid as-is." This probably has meaning for him. 

There is another man in the hardware store. He is looking at houseplants, which are 20% off but are still probably not worth it because they were so overpriced before the markdown. Look at him. He is a soft man. He is not getting lumber. He is getting two overpriced houseplants at 20% off. He is wearing a short-sleeved button down with a pattern that is a little funky but not that funky. Only slightly funky. He probably says things like - "...honestly, these tomatoes are so good I'm thinking we should leave them out of the salad and just serve them sliced with olive oil and the good salt." 

However, there is a chance that he, too, knows about epoxy. On second thought, he probably does. I'm sure of it. He knows all about epoxy. He is an expert. He knows about hardwood versus softwood, and gaskets. 

If your goal is to see a man, there are many ways to make this happen. 

There were a lot of men in the Peloponnesian War. If you'd seen the Peloponnesian War, you would have seen a lot of men. Even if you were too far away to see the war clearly, you would have known that what you weren’t seeing was men. 

Our 9th grade history teacher was a man. He gave us nicknames and threw chocolates at us when we got answers right. "HUBRIS!” He would yell: “Hubris was the downfall of Persia! Hubris was the downfall of Athens! Hubris! Always hubris!!" 

I'll bet a lot of men know about the Peloponnesian War and about the Delian League. They know about strategy. They strategize. I have never known how to strategize. If only I remembered more about the Peloponnesian War. If only I knew its causes, course, and effects. If only I knew what is good strategy and what is bad strategy. If only I knew what is good epoxy and what is bad epoxy. If only I knew how to effectively become a naval superpower. If only I understood gaskets.