One may wish to hide this from the eyes those with delicate constitutions.
When I was teaching, many of my students would fret about being only ordinary. Building their aspirations was part of the job. To do this, we would draw a situational sketch. At a meeting of world leaders, women and men, representing millions and billions of people, who is the most important?
Pause for a moment and think. A few hundred leaders, their assistants, maybe some families, a similar number of press members, protesters and tourists all showing up in one place at one time. This is much the same as when the family gathers for a celebratory dinner. Some may have serious thoughts about renting a fleet of port-a-johns as the in-laws show up.
But what happens when the tubing in the toilets stops working? Who is the most important person? The bravest? The smartest? The most powerful? Who is going to confront the approaching catastrophe? A plugged pipe in the bowels of the building and the leaders are dancing jigs or reeling from the fragrant stench about to emerge. Who will save the day?
It will not be a committee of pious citizens or powerful, weightlifting body guards with mustaches and tattoos. Noble heroes on trusty steeds with swords and shields at the ready to battle the indomitable foes of a plugged pipe will not be able to assist. It will be a tradesman, man or woman, with a $5 plunger from Marden’s who saves the day.
Humbleness is the hallmark. Bravery is earned from an honest day’s work, perhaps someone who is street smart, wearing Levi and Carhartt, Redwings and braces, sporting a wry smile and a few earthy words.
The hero steps forward, scepter in hand, and in a few short moves solves the problem. Pulling a tattered hanky from a pocket, he wipes the brow. He offers a smile to the assembled audience, and then goes off to other challenges.
Who is the most powerful person in the world?
There are times when the zeal to clean house and bring an end to supposedly needless stuff can cause one to forget that there is a structure that depends on a person with a plunger to save the day. There is money in excreta.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television, worked around the U.S., and later changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
