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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow ...
Read more

Cultural tourism in Iceland

I just finished writing a chapter of my dissertation, which resulted in a much larger discussion of cultural tourism in Iceland than I had intended. But the fact is, this is an issue I have been extremely interested and concerned about for at least 15 years, if not 20. I have never, ever liked the way Iceland is marketed to tourists in the U.S. Everything from the unspoiled nature to the crazy city life in Reykavik. It has always left the part of Iceland I loved--the simple joy of being in a relaxing and lovely place with my family--completely out of the picture. In 2001, I went to Hvollsvöllur to examine the Saga Centre as part of a study commissioned by the National Park's service to look into cultural landscapes as heritage tourism. I thought that endeavor might represent a change in how Iceland was presented to tourists. But in the last 10 years, and especially while working at Vikingaheimar, and at meetings with the Saga Trails Association, I came to see just how completel...
Read more

On Icelandic doctors

My friends and family here in Iceland were very enthusiastic about me going to the krabbameinsfélag for an exam. I was really impressed how easy it was to get an appointment--booked online even! And when I got there this afternoon, the efficiency continued: they have a well oiled operation in place there, all very organized with computers asking questions and keyed lockers to keep one's personal belongings in. Then when it came time to see the doctor, well, that lasted all of 2 minutes. And I paid 3420 kroner. So I was overall a little disappointed. When I mentioned to the front desk clerks that I was wondering if it was possible to actually get an appointment where I could speak to a doctor, I was given a variety of phone numbers. None of the ones I called had appointments within the next 6 weeks. In the United States, when I want a doctor's appointment, I can usually get it within a week of calling, though sometimes I have had to wait 10 days or so. The highest co-pay I hav...
Read more