LI admit to being young and ignorant. I sometimes admit to being old and ignorant. Usually it does not matter, but sometimes it causes you to do stupid things. I remember this one time… Well, I remember more than one time, but one time I was especially ignorant.
I was in the 10th grade I did get ready for a date by painting my car. It was a beautiful autumn day and perfect for car painting. The process was simple. First, I washed my 51 Ford (I wish I still had it). I pulled it into the garage, got out cans of paint and a four inch brush. Next I painted the car. Me, the paint, and a four inch brush got the job done in a couple of hours. I was ready for the date!
On that day I learned some great lessons for my own life. I learned:
Ignorance is bliss. I drove the car into the garage, got out the cans of paint, the paint brush, and painted the car because I did not know any better. My neighbor laughed. At the time I thought it was because he thought I was resourceful. I now know he laughed because I was so ignorant.
You can do something stupid if you want. People will not live their lives running around behind you to see that you only do smart things. Your behavior is up to you.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When I was finished I was proud of the car. Others saw the paint brush ridges in the paint, but to me it was just pretty.
Even when you do dumb things real friends like you anyway. I love “anyway” friends. They are those people who love you even when you do dumb things. Your friend is someone you can relax around and just be yourself. Your friend is your friend even when you paint your car with a brush.
Wisdom comes with age. It does not always come with age. Perhaps I should say age ought to bring us wisdom. There are plenty of old people who have lived their lives doing one foolish thing after another, but walking the road once before ought to give us a little wisdom. I will never again paint my car with house paint and a brush.
Children, especially 16-year-old children, need supervision. It is ridiculous to see a 45-year-old man blame his 75-year-old father for his own behavior. At some point we all need to take responsibility for our own lives, but 16 is not the age.
We should not take life too seriously. If you paint your car with house paint it is not the end of the world. Don’t treat it like it is.
All these lessons (and more) can be learned from painting a car with house paint. If you cannot learn from your mistakes then you will never learn from anything! In fact, the smartest people are those who can learn from someone else’s failures. Now that you know my story you will never paint your car with house paint and a brush. See, you have learned from my mistake!
~Lonnie Davis