This saying, like so many others was one of my mother’s favorite mantras for living. And like so many others, it made no sense to me until I was grown. Like the one that went, if you lie down with dogs that you get up with fleas. Well duh… don’t dogs and fleas go hand in hand? Take the one that stated, that a person can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Now I don’t ever recall wanting to catch flies, but I suspect that if I ever wanted to catch one, that honey thing would probably work. Then there was the one that went, ‘a bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush.’ Okay I admit it, until recently I never knew what the heck that meant. Frankly I was afraid to know. Heck, with my luck, a bird in the hand would probably turn around and peck my eye out. 

Still it has only been since I have gotten older, that I have begun to understand many of these truisms. Case in point. Not long ago my office was so cold that I could not feel my fingers touching my computer keypad. That was also the one time I decided to wear a sleeveless blouse to work.  Ever conscious of arm flab, as well as flab on other body parts I usually wear tops with sleeves to my elbows or longer. 

And I still had three hours before I got off work. I also knew that I could not remain sitting in front of my computer with my arms folded for warmth for three hours. So I looked around my cubicle frantically for something… anything… to put on. Spotting a wall hanging that I had made to decorate my space, I wondered if it would work. 

It was roughly about 36 inches long and 12 inches across with a pointed end complete with a tassel. It was banner, not a throw. Still desperate times call for desperate measures. So I removed it from the wall and threw it around my shoulders. It only covered one shoulder, so I had to alternate shoulders and hold it in place to keep it around me. I did this intermittently so that I could still do a little work.

Type, grab, type, grab; this went on for about an hour. Suddenly one of the technicians from our IS department came to address a problem with my computer. My frantic typing style must have made them think that I had a computer problem.

“I like your shawl,” she said pointing to my banner/wrap. I burst out laughing, which must have made her think that I was crazy. Ironically the colors mauve and wine complimented the hot pink blouse that I had on. So I could see how she thought it was part of my attire. I explained to her what it actually was. I am not convinced that it explained the tassel though. But I could explain it if I had to, after all necessity is the mother of invention.