Lazy wheels and trumpet players..!
Robert Clements
Saturday, October 01, 2011 - Let’s go out for breakfast dad! my daughter said this morning and took me to a swanky place with French windows overlooking a busy road. After glancing cautiously at the over priced menu and carefully placing my order, I was looking out of the window when I saw something and stared.
“What’s it?” asked my daughter “Look at that truck lumbering along outside, “ I told her. “Look at the number of wheels it’s got!” “It’s got four sets of double wheels,” said my daughter, which means it’s got…” “Sixteen wheels!” I said, pleased with my quick mathematics. “Fourteen,” said my daughter, “Remember the set in front are not double wheels!” I looked at her admiringly and then we both continued looking at the slow moving truck when she exclaimed, “Dad those wheels in the middle, are sort of funny!”
We stared and realized that the ones in the middle were not touching the ground. They were in the air and not actually taking the weight of the truck. “Lazy wheels!” laughed my daughter, “Imagine the other ten wheels don’t know that these four aren’t working.” The truck went by, we ate our delicious breakfast, but my mind was on those wheels. Having fourteen wheels meant the truck was meant to carry very heavy loads and the weight was distributed among four axles. But if the wheels of one axle were not touching the ground that meant that the other three could buckle or break if the load was heavy.
I could imagine the consternation when the owner came to see why his truck had broken down, “But we have four axles, and fourteen wheels, what more can a truck need? How could it have collapsed?” A questions many of us ask our on teammates. “How could we have failed, there are so many of us?” In many Indian weddings, trumpet players are called. You pay a certain sum for ten trumpets and quite some more if you want more trumpeters. One day a friend told me while chuckling, “Whether it’s ten or twenty four, the sound will always be the same!”
“How so?” I asked. “Only ten know how to play, the rest are only holding the trumpets to their mouth!” Are we like those wheels taking a free ride while our colleagues sweat it out? Are we like those trumpeters who have not learned how to play and so add nothing to the efforts of the team?Whether it’s lack of effort or lack of knowledge, you have no right to be there if you can’t contribute equally to the job.
—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com
“What’s it?” asked my daughter “Look at that truck lumbering along outside, “ I told her. “Look at the number of wheels it’s got!” “It’s got four sets of double wheels,” said my daughter, which means it’s got…” “Sixteen wheels!” I said, pleased with my quick mathematics. “Fourteen,” said my daughter, “Remember the set in front are not double wheels!” I looked at her admiringly and then we both continued looking at the slow moving truck when she exclaimed, “Dad those wheels in the middle, are sort of funny!”
We stared and realized that the ones in the middle were not touching the ground. They were in the air and not actually taking the weight of the truck. “Lazy wheels!” laughed my daughter, “Imagine the other ten wheels don’t know that these four aren’t working.” The truck went by, we ate our delicious breakfast, but my mind was on those wheels. Having fourteen wheels meant the truck was meant to carry very heavy loads and the weight was distributed among four axles. But if the wheels of one axle were not touching the ground that meant that the other three could buckle or break if the load was heavy.
I could imagine the consternation when the owner came to see why his truck had broken down, “But we have four axles, and fourteen wheels, what more can a truck need? How could it have collapsed?” A questions many of us ask our on teammates. “How could we have failed, there are so many of us?” In many Indian weddings, trumpet players are called. You pay a certain sum for ten trumpets and quite some more if you want more trumpeters. One day a friend told me while chuckling, “Whether it’s ten or twenty four, the sound will always be the same!”
“How so?” I asked. “Only ten know how to play, the rest are only holding the trumpets to their mouth!” Are we like those wheels taking a free ride while our colleagues sweat it out? Are we like those trumpeters who have not learned how to play and so add nothing to the efforts of the team?Whether it’s lack of effort or lack of knowledge, you have no right to be there if you can’t contribute equally to the job.
—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com
Advertisement
Epaper
Advertise Here
Comments