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The Lesson My Mother Never Taught Me About Asking
She demonstrated it
Somebody shoulda told me it would be like this
Be like this, be like this— J. Cole
One noticeable difference between humans, a domesticated species, and wild ones is the start signal.
In races, there’s the electronic voice, the shotgun, or even the dropped flag. In the wild, the lion starts the chase long before the wildebeest discovers it is being hunted. When there are no rules, such signals have little role.
Another start signal typical among humans is the beginning of a class. A bell rings. A teacher walks in. The bell rings. The teacher walks out. In the wild, classes don’t alert the student. It is up to the student to remain observant and to notice when a lesson has begun.
The cubs have to understand when to lie low and when to hide while the mother goes hunting. No bells. No overt signals. My mother did something similar. Only upon reflection did I appreciate the lesson. Years later. I must be quite the student.
Then again, I may have learned the lesson subconsciously. The principle was similar to what we’re told in medical school — see one, do one, teach one. I saw what she did. Years later, I did something…
