Dear Richard,
We all are living in a changing world. Things could work previously does not necessarily applies today. One should review situations rather than blindly follows others or sticks to the traditions.
Once upon a time, there was a man who traveled with his beautiful sword. He went on board to cross the river. When the ship was moving hardly in the middle of the quick running water, he didn't pay attention enough and dropped his beautiful sword into the river. He wanted to jump into the water to save his sword. However, he couldn't as it was very dangerous and the ship wouldn't wait for him. Without any other choices, he made a mark on the ship where his beautiful sword was dropped. He planned to go to the water following the mark and search for his sword when the ship was anchored.
Richard, again, this man did not seem very smart, did he? The story uses a simple and obvious example to show the idea. In the real world, a lot of people came across the similar mistakes without their awareness. If you develop the idea further, what does this story remind you?
With love, Dad