Hot pink is not pretty, but inspires economic epiphany
Have you ever made a mistake? Of course, we all have. But, have you ever done something so terrible that you wanted to cry?
This weekend I took upon myself to do some home improvements – or should I say un-improvements.
Normally, I’m pretty talented in this capacity as honey-do dude and capable of fixing and building just about anything around the house.
My wife and I recently had some ceramic tile installed in our bathrooms. It looks awesome and is a huge improvement to the space. The expert who assisted in the project recommended putting down sealant to prevent the tile and grout from cracking over time. I agreed and went to the store to pick up the necessary product to make it happen.
Apparently, I picked up the wrong product.
When I put down the sealant, nothing on the instructions indicated that it would dry hot pink. Yes, hot pink.
Our beautiful new bathroom floor looked like someone threw up Pepto Bismal all over it.
Now, I consider myself a pretty tough dude, but I was so upset that little tears trickled down my face. All I could do was stand there and sulk over what I had done. My wife, on the other hand, was fantastic. She was more focused on fixing the problem instead of worrying about the actual problem or what it would mean to the future of our home.
Her reaction is what prompted my economic epiphany.
I thought about the challenges we all currently face with our economy as well as the problems associated with the pink nightmare that used to be my bathroom. Metaphorically speaking, our economic struggles are very similar.
I managed to create a serious problem in less than 30 minutes without breaking a sweat. It took almost 10 hours to fix it. But, you know what; I fixed it – complete with sore knees, aching back and a slight buzz from the fumes of the sealant remover.
My point is that everyone who wants to succeed in this country will need to stop being in such a huff about the situation we are in and start using a little elbow grease (and maybe some hydrochloric acid) to help clean it up.
I am not standing on the soapbox or trying to be insensitive about the hard times many of you face, because I ‘m right there with you. However, if we can look at our economic woes as a problem that can be fixed with hard work instead of just talking about it all the time, maybe the light at the end of the tunnel becomes more visible. Maybe we start sleeping better at night. Maybe our children have a brighter future.
The clock is ticking. And, based on my new experience, the longer the problem sits, the worse it gets and the harder it is to correct it. And, no one wants to see our beloved red, white and blue stained pink.