Opus 2022-161: The Importance of Lug Nuts

One of the quotes that sticks in my mind from my college days comes from a man named Rueben Welch.  He was sharing how one day he came to the realization that he was not going to be God’s Golden Boy.  In case you don’t get the point, he was saying that he realized he was going to have a bit part in the Movie of Life.

I would imagine that there is a bit of the Big Dream in all of our lives.  When we watch a movie or read a book we identify with the protagonist.  We put ourselves in the leading role.  It is escape from the mundane lives we live.  I know in my childhood I had many roles.  I became Robin Hood and The Lone Ranger.  I was Zorro.  I never wanted to be Friar Tuck, Tonto or Sergeant Garcia.

Life is not a game we play in the back yard or a dream we have during a nap.  Life has a way of bringing us down.  I remember someone pointing out that we will never be the leading man but we will be one of the spear carriers that fill up the rest of the screen.  Someone has to wear the red shirts.

Many of us are not even spear carriers, we are just nails on the set.  When you think about it, how many nails are there for each board?  How many boards for each extra?  How many extras for each star?  We have support roles at different levels.

I don’t think we should be discouraged by that.  Where would your house be if all the nails decided they wanted to be lawn mowers and left the scene?  Or think of the lug nuts on a car.  They don’t get a lot of thought unless you have the fancy wheels that need locks.  One of my idle fantasies is to get back at someone who has really wronged me by sneaking in some night and removing all their lug nuts.  If I was careful enough the car would look good until they started to drive away.

So be a good nail.  Do your part.  Step back, figuratively of course, and take a good look at the whole structure.  They could not exist without you.

homo unius libri