THE FIRST TIME IS THE CHARM

When I was growing up my siblings and I all had chores to do around the house. We had to do them before we could do anything else, like go out to play or even do our homework. They were never very difficult and, as we grew older and there were more of us to share the chores, each of us had less to do. Yes, they were a pain in the neck for me especially when my buddies were at the front door telling me to hurry up so that we could get the ballgame started.

My first chore, being the oldest, before I moved on to washing the dishes, was sweeping the kitchen floor after supper. It was no big deal. Our kitchen, even if it was an eat-in, was not very big. There was not much of a floor to sweep. But I still remember when my Mom made me sweep the floor six times before she was satisfied that it met her requirements. Six times!

When I finished with sweeping for the fifth time and complained, she said very kindly and calmly, “Billy, if you would do it right the first time, you wouldn’t have to do it again.” Enough said. I also would like to say “Lesson learned;” but, reflecting back on that time in my life, I cannot. And, in all honesty, reflecting on life now, it is still a lesson I sometimes forget to follow.

Do it right the first time and you won’t have to do it again. Common sense. It’s certainly not rocket science. It is a lesson that once learned should be put into practice from then on. Yet, we human beings, seem to have a very difficult time not putting the lessons we have learned into constant practice. Why else is it that history always seems to repeat itself? We keep sweeping the floor over and over again and never seem to get it done right. Why?

That would be the question, would it not? It is a personal question and a societal one as well. The first time we learn a lesson should be the charm. It so should enamor us that we remember it always and follow it always as well. But it doesn’t and we don’t and we pay the price over and over again, personally and as a world.

We are supposed to learn from our mistakes. Sometimes we do. Sometimes we do not. I would like to say that after that six-time floor-sweeping incident, I always did it right the first time. But I can’t day that. My Mom, The Inspector, still found times when I was in too much of a hurry to get the job done that it needed to be done again. The guys had to wait for me a little longer, much to my chagrin and their displeasure.

But that’s the point, isn’t it? When we fail to follow up on the lessons we have learned, we displease ourselves and we displease others. We make our life more difficult and we make the lives of others, especially and usually the ones closest to us and the ones we do not want to displease, more difficult. When will ever learn or will we ever learn?