I can take any class and ace any test and I'm even pretty good at teaching. What I can't handle is everyday life. Take, for example, the Case of the Deadly Bug.
Then there's The Great Paint Escapade. You know the little shelf on step ladders where you're supposed to put the paint bucket? Well, I was preparing to cut in the area just below the ceiling so I put the paint where it belonged and started up the ladder. Having more enthusiasm than brains I grabbed the supports for the shelf instead of the sides of the ladder. I finished the job with the paint that had pooled in my pockets and down my cleavage. Good thing I had plenty of cleavage. One good thing about it though; the entire floor was covered with plastic. I had learned my lesson when I kicked over a bucket of paint while painting the bathroom. I had to carpet the bathroom. I didn't even swear. I swear.
How about the Giant Pot of Mold? I have a big pot that I use often to boil meat and bones for stock and there is usually something in it. One morning I noticed it sitting on the kitchen table and wondered with some dismay how long it had been sitting out. I lifted the lid cautiously and peeked in -- and dropped the lid with a disgusted scream at the sight of the lumpy, multi-colored mess inside. In a moment I realized there was no odor. Hummmm, I think. What in the world? I carefully lifted the lid again and saw . . . . all the nick nacks I'd put in it for safekeeping while I painted the dining room.
And the little things -- trying to start a car with the automatic transmission in drive; trying to light the gas grill with the tank valve closed; calling maintenance to fix the broken air conditioner when it was turned off at the breaker; sending a group letter to fifteen people all with the same address -- you get the picture.
Having brains without the moxie to show them can be frustrating sometimes. People don't listen. I used to work in a long, thin building, about half a block deep. The air conditioner worked fine for the back of the building but the front was all glass and got way too hot. One day I asked the A/C man to put a big window unit in the front over the door. He ignored me. A few weeks later when he came again I asked him again. The next time he came my partner, who had the brains of a collie but the charm of a siren said, "Why don't we put a big window unit above the door?"
The A/C man said, "What a great idea! Why didn't somebody think of that before?"
Almost always I have thought things through with the idea that I wanted to choose what would be best for everyone involved and never thought of just my own interests. I've been taken advantage of so many times I finally had footprints tatooed on my back. One of the good/bad things about a high IQ is the ability to see things from many points of view. People like Bill Gates have an advantage over me in that they can see all sides, just as I can, but they know how to choose what works for them. If you think that's selfish, think again. I wouldn't have this computer and wouldn't be making my home pages if it weren't for him. Bill has done more for the economy than any other person in this century and he did it so quickly that we tend to forget that the computer business is still in early childhood. Imagine somebody complaining about a monopoly a mere 20 years after the first railroad. Never could have happened.
You think it's obscene for one person to have that much money? That's nuts. He doesn't "have" much more than you and I. His money is invested in all sorts of things, all of them things that ultimately benefit all of us. His money employs hundreds of thousands of people either directly or indirectly through investments that help businesses to grow.
I absolutely do not begrudge Bill his money. What I regret is not signing on with him early on. When he was hiring people mostly on the basis of IQ I would have been a shoo-in. Now there are eight year olds with more computer savvy than I have and I'm left in the dust.
Oh well. Brains ain't everything.
