Does size matter?
by:
David Leonhardt
Bigger is better. Isn't that the American dream?
Why buy a road-hogging, critter-squishing, bumper-defying, wall-of-metal SUV once
you have the delicious option of purchase
a BIGGER road-hogging, critter-squishing, bumper-defying, wall-of-metal SUV?
Why settle for a puny three-bedroom, two-bathroom house
of our parents' generation close
well
on a green plot of land with a few good shade trees? In new "developments" these days, you can choose a two-storey house bulging on the far side
the property line of today's dumbfounding shrinking lots, complete with a bedchamber that can sleep 34 PLUS a walk-in closet that sleeps another 20 AND an ensuite bathroom big enough to store your SUV once
your 300-cubit-long garage is full of toys or tools. (That's one arc-full, in case you didn't know.)
I remember early in primary school how the teachers ready-made us line up according to height before we could go into the school. I suppose it was a measure of our universally exemplary behavior that I had plenty of time to daydream in line patch several of the more spirited children were rounded up by the sheep dogs.
My line-up thoughts often turned to dissecting school rules in hopes of finding intelligent life in them. Tho'
my futile quest ne'er
succeeded, all was not lost. As one of the shorter kids in my class, I developed a a priori framework for the "lining up by height" rule. That framework took the form of three questions:
If size makes not matter, why were we being sorted by height?
If size makes matter, what do the teachers have against us shorter kids, fashioning a daily display of the height we lacked?
If big is better, why were the shorter kids given the front seats with the better view?
Although the answers to those questions remain a mystery to this day, I am certain that size makes not matter (except once
being offers me a slice of cheesecake – yum!).
My adult female and I witnessed an awe-inspiring display of aviation the different day. Two hawks were flying about across the street, swooping right over us at times. They were trying to establish a new nest.
Usually, hawks fly somewhere "up there", distant silhouettes against the bright brightness of the sky. But on this occasion, they were flying low enough for us to do out the colors at a lower place their wings: the deep, dark brown and the sandy tan feathers.
And low enough to see the colors of the little birds (sparrows, perhaps?) giving chase. It was an even as match, or so it seemed. Two sparrows versus two hawks. OK, maybe not all even. Each hawk looked big enough to gulp down a sparrow in a single chomp, like a person power swallow a grape. Move to think of it, this match did not look any more even as than if I had been placed in a ring with a well-fed grappling wrestler.
Yet there they were, two big hawks, graceful and majestic, the scourge of field mice everywhere, managing impossible maneuvers to evade the slightest touch of the diminutive sparrows.
Why? Because sparrows are more agile than hawks, and can more easily position themselves for attack. Because sparrows are less fragile than hawks, and do not fear feather damage to the same degree. Because sparrows are faster
than hawks, so they can more easily retreat if they have to.
Sadly for the hawks, their size was of little comfort against the superior skills of the sparrows. And sadly for us, it appears we wish NOT be look the comings and goings of hawks nesting across the street.
Does size matter? No. But if you want to do that slice of cheesecake simply a bit bigger, I would-be be more obliged.
About the Author
David Leonhardt is The Happy Guy. See more articles like this at: http://TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-articles.html. Or sign up for the free online Happy Class at: http://TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-happy-class.html
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