November 19, 2005
I have lived in my current apartment nearly five years. Since the day I moved in, the light switch in my kitchen has been installed upside-down, having to flip the switch UP to turn the light OFF, and vice versa. Even after almost five years, every time I walked into the kitchen to turn on the light, my first instinct was to flip the switch up. Then I'd realize it's the kitchen, and I'd turn on the light by flipping it down.
I finally got around to pulling the switch out and reinstalling it the right way this past week. Obviously my instincts needed to be placated, and this seemed the right way to do it. I could now go with my initial impulse to turn on the light, and I would be correct.
As the poet Robert Burns once mentioned, even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Quadruped or not, this is just as true for me as anyone else. Now every time I go into the kitchen and attempt to turn on the light, I find myself trying to flip the switch DOWN. Years of non-habit suddenly manifests itself, and I've ended up back in the same predicament I was before I ever unscrewed that wall plate.
I swear, this is the perfect metaphor for my entire life.
(06:52)
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