Don't Touch the Stove or You'll Burn Yourself

One day, as a little lad in the kitchen, my mother turned the stove on, and I watched the burner element heat up and turn this beautiful bright orange color. My mother, with her motherly instincts, seemed to know what I was thinking even before I did. “Don’t touch that or you’ll get burned,” she said in a calm yet stern voice as she continued her prep. Unperturbed by the warning, I touched the hot element. Obviously. And, obviously, I burned myself.

I think about that moment sometimes when I’m in a funk. Actually, during these COVID times when a bunch of my contemporaries act like stupid little children despite warnings, that thought presents itself more and more. It’s not like I try to analyze the thoughts of young me who ignored a warning and got burned. It’d be a waste of time. I was young and dumb. No, what that memory evokes is warning to my current self that, even as an adult, I’m susceptible to idiocy if I’m not careful. It’s really easy to be stupid. It takes work to be careful.