'Zactly

Accuracy is important!
Some things require millimetre perfection, like cabinetmaking.
Others need the precision of micrometres, like internal combustion engines. 
We want our surgeons and scientists to be even more accurate. 

What about money? You and I only ever get things resolved

to two decimal places. I read about a fellow working for a

bank who took the third decimal place for himself. 

He made a fortune until he was caught.

 

We measure in millimetres, 

decimal places, 

light years and 

thousandths of a second 

but the most important things in our lives 

are measured in tenebrous,

nebulous,

vague,

clumsy terms.

It seems that the more important the subject, the less precise 

we are about quantifying and qualifying it.

Our youth use words like gnarly, wicked, rad, sick, awesome

and despite the unfamiliarity of whatever word they choose

we know exactly what they mean. 

The ah moment when the penny drops. 

The flash of cognition when we finally understand what our 

small child has been trying to tell us. 

Meeting someone who is a gnarly dude

Parties that are wicked and holidays that are rad, 

Concerts that are awesome.

Receiving a gift that is sick. 

So maybe we only need precision for things,

but when it comes to people the

soft-edged,

furry,

fuzzy, vague and clumsy

is precisely what we need, and filling the gaps 

with unarticulated living is what makes things work.

MDC

October 2020