Out of Context 19

Some things my brothers and I learned through demonstration and repetition.  If we slammed the door, we might have to go back out and demonstrate the proper way to open and close a door.  Depending on the severity of the slam, we might have to demonstrate it quite a few times.  Whatever the task, we were instructed that, “Quality comes first; then we’ll worry about quantity.”  However, in not many words, he taught me that quality was relative, or came in different forms.  We were rebuilding a wood and fabric aircraft, had the wings off and the entire airplane stripped down to a skeleton.  My job was to clean, sand and varnish the fuselage.  Well, I was putting on the first coat of spar varnish, and I thought I was doing a great job, being very meticulous: no runs, sags or brush marks.  I glimpsed dad watching me, and I thought, “Ah-ha! He is no doubt admiring my work and thinking how meticulous and conscientious I am.”  While that may have been what he was thinking, what he said was, “Who do you think you are, Rembrandt?  Put some varnish on there.”  It didn't take much thinking to appreciate the wisdom.


From "Ranger Fathers"--2006