What We Don’t Know…
We’ve all heard (no pun intended–you’ll see why in a moment) it: Write what you know. It’s probably good advice, not only for writing, but when generalized, for most things in life.
For example, I just had an electrical contractor install a new switch. Result? Looks great, works great, the house isn’t gonna burn to the ground and there’s a lot less wear and tear on me…always a good thing.
However, for those of you who remain unconvinced, here’s a short epistle that illustrates the principle of know what you know…
For those who have never traveled to the West or Southwest, cattle-guards are horizontal steel rails placed at fence openings, in roadways, or across highways, to prevent cattle (herd??? heard? There’s a knee-slapper) from crossing.
For reasons unknown to modern (or ancient) science, cattle recognize these rail-like devices and will not step on the "guards." We can theorize that it’s probably because they fear getting their feet caught between the rails. That’s only a theory, however, because cattle, being naturally recalcitrant, won’t answer questions about their behavior—or much of anything, actually.
Recently, President Obama received a report that there were, “over 100,000 cattle-guards” in Colorado. Because Colorado ranchers had protested his proposed changes in grazing policies, The President, in a great example not knowing what you don’t know, ordered the Secretary of the Interior to fire half of the guards as an unnecessary suck on the Federal budget.
Before the Interior Secretary could respond–and presumably straighten out The President–Vice-President Biden, intervened with a request that before any guards were fired, they be given six months of retraining.
Ya, see, that’s just wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Why retrain someone if you’re gonna fire them?
So, there you have it. Write about what you know…or…study up on it and then, write about it. Of course, by that time…you’ll know it. You know?
Hope you can screw up your courage and come back by on Monday. I’ll try to do the same. Have a great, playful, and happy weekend. Galen.
New Mexico version of a house pet. Meet, “Armando The Silent.”
Themocracy
As they say, you don’t know what you don’t know!
Government intelligence at its best!
And then there’s the other side – write about what you don’t know and you can bet someone will come along and correct you. Therefore, the next time you write about it you sound smart:)
Oh, my — that made me laugh out loud. Thanks, Galen!
It probably should be “write what you want to learn about!”
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
Everytime you write something that’s incorrect, ten people who’ve never heard of you before will email you that you were wrong. And bust your chops about it in the process.
Why does this not surprise me? After so many years in government, nothing does anymore. That doesn’t make it any easier to swallow though. Good post Galen.
Great advice.
This is a total April fools joke. It never surprises me that people will believe the written word when it serves there own values