I assume I am not the only one to do stupid things on an almost daily basis. Errors in judgement, mistakes in execution, forgetting to do this or that, or errors in following instructions. They put erasers on pencils for a reason. In my case some of the stupid things could not be easily erased .
Picture a U-Haul truck backing up to an open garage door. Got it. Now picture a loading ramp lowered into position for use. Watch a stupid man carrying two boxes up that ramp without regard to head clearance. You guessed it. Bang! Hit my forehead on the upper beam and almost knocked myself silly. At the time I was in my early sixties and not an impetuous and over eager young man. Talk about dumb.
Another ignorant series of misjudgments occurred in the year 2007 when I attended an awards ceremony in Washington D.C. Knowing ahead of time that we would have private meetings with the two U.S. Senators from the state of Utah, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennet I had prepared a short pitch for a subject of great interest to myself. Little did I know that this type of meeting was more or less scripted by the congressional staff. A constituent is allotted a segment of time for small talk and pictures then is politely ushered out the door. How utterly stupid of me to think that thrusting new ideas upon a U.S. Senator without warning is a breach of etiquette. Wow, did I feel naïve and dumb.
In the early 1950’s my mother had read the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson. Never a fan of pesticides or insecticides to begin with, she sought other means to control the aphids inhabiting her precious rose bushes. My mom was able to order a supply of lady bugs to combat those tiny garden pests. The small creatures arrived via Railroad Express in cardboard containers packed with cooling ice on the outside. The method used was to keep the ladybugs in the fridge and then release a spoonful at a time in the sunny garden. The revived beetles would awaken and begin consuming the aphids. So far so good. Until the day Mom asked me to bring her some ladybugs as she was working in the garden. I did as told with one error mixed in. After taking out a small number of the drowsy bugs I delivered them to my gardener parent and drifted off on some boyhood mission. Careless of me to leave the opened container on the kitchen table. Hundreds of lady bugs woke up and flew into every corner and crevice of the house. What a mess.
Just a small sample of my “stupid” things inventory. I am sure we all have similar stories tucked away in our memories.