Dear Readers:
Ever heard that phrase tossed around? I like it; it aptly explains those minor obstacles in our lives we try to overcome. Another one is "burr in the saddle," for you cowpokes out there. Or how about "needle in a hay stack," for you farmers (Wait, that might mean something else). Anyhow, "fly in the ointment" is a good phrase and captures a lot in one pithy statement.
But what if you were the fly? Then your perspective would have to change. Landing on ointment is a major event in a fly's life. Flies try to avoid such things, like we try to avoid tornadoes. The little feller stuck in such a situation likely faced certain death; stuck for life, never to see his mommy or daddy again, only to become a fossil, and maybe end up in a museum here in Columbus. It was especially bad if he were stuck in a jar of petroleum jelly, or even worse, used petroleum jelly. That'd be like a human being falling into a giant tar pit that doubled as an outhouse -- not a pretty picture.
So before you say, "Oh, that was the fly in the ointment," to describe some minor obstacle in your life, be sensitive to the fact, that somewhere, unbeknownst to you, a fly lay marooned in a foreign place, hidden from his family in some petroleum jelly jar, never to see the light of day. The gravity of that situation alone, should give us pause. We need to think before we speak next time we've had a bad day, and be considerate to the little ones who might be listening.
Until later.
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6 comments:
I hate flies.
You ain't seen nothing honey until you've encountered biting ones. I think they really hate me.
Are they called no-see-ums? There are many of those north of here.
The ones we have here are big and lazy and make a mess when you swat them. UGH!
Oh you see them alright...deer flies are some of the worst!
Babzy:
I was thinking of black fies. I met some while camping in a wilderness area of Michigan. They were very nice and invited me over for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even after dowsing them with army strength bug repellant, they stayed attached to my legs. I think they belonged to some sort of special op commando force.
Deer flies, horse flies, sand fleas (on the beach) and no-see-ums qualify. I remember my first encounter with no-see-ums in Montana (camping again). They got through the mosquito netting at night and woke me up from sleep. I kept getting bites from who-knows-where, until, finally, I saw the teeny-weeny things.
Guess how I won the battle? I shined my flashlight to attract them, then I torched them with a butane lighter I was holding under the light beam. They dropped like flies! Maybe I should've patented the technique, except, it carried some risk of burning your tent and sleeping bag.
As they say, sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.
Or in this case, sometimes you're the ointment, sometimes you're the fly.
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