Stitch in time

Metaphors are wondrous in their ability to mean so many things at once. The cliche "A stitch in time saves nine" is of course built on a sewing metaphor, and I was reminded of it this morning, looking through my sock drawer, trying to find a pair without a threadbare spot or hole. I go through socks MUCH faster here in Iceland than in California, where I never wear any, and my purchase of socks has not kept pace with increased need. So I thought to myself, maybe these wouldn't have gotten so bad if I had sewed them up sooner. 

This same applies absolutely to the Icelandic banking meltdown, the global banking meltdown. And probably a lot of other things. The non-metaphorical, non-cliched way to say this would be that it is wise to take action as soon as a small error becomes apparent, rather than to wait and see just how bad it can get. But I think many of us are far too curious to see the extent of the damage, and therefore delay action, or we are waiting for someone else to fix it, or we are thinking if we ignore it, it will cease to be important. The last two are products of a lack of will, but the first one, being curious to see just how bad it can get, is harder to overcome. Maybe if we just tried to meet that interest in the process of destruction through little things, like holes in our socks, instead of through big things, like how fragile a financial system can become, that would be more productive. And so I choose to allow "a stitch in time saves nine" to retain its metaphorical value, and will not sew up my socks anytime soon. I am, after all, going home to California in a few weeks.