Isn’t it obvious?
“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
- Arthur Conan Doyle
Boydio
When I was a kid, my dad created a game every year at Christmas for my sisters and I to ‘win’ our gifts. Dad, whose name was Boyd, would dress up in a bowler hat and Groucho Marx nose-glasses to transform into Boydio, the carnival game operator. Over the years, we tossed ping-pong balls into buckets; played mini-golf that ranged all over the house; used a homemade catapult to fling a plush frog into a simulated pond; and a host of other games that Boydio created.
But it was the first game that really set the bar. It all started the year I got my first BB gun. Inspired by this newly acquired projectile, Dad covered a sheet of plywood in gift wrap and pinned a grid of balloons on it. The four of us proceeded to shoot that BB gun down the hall to pop the balloons. Yes, we shot a gun inside the house - does that tell you something about Dad? Yes, it does. It tells you he was awesome.
Obviously
Obviously, it’s a bad idea to let children shoot a BB gun inside a house full of antiques. We could have broken things, put holes in the walls, or shot our eyes out.
Only, it wasn’t a bad idea. It was a great idea! To this day, over 40 years later, we still talk about it. It’s become a fundamental part of our family lore.
If my dad had listened to what should have been obvious to him, our family would have been deprived of a very special tradition that lives on to this day. (Since his death, I’ve picked up the mantle to become Danio every Christmas.)
So, what are the things that are obvious to you? Are you sure they’re actually true, or are you being held back by conventional wisdom that isn’t all that wise?
When has something been obvious to you that turned out untrue (or vice versa)?
Please comment below!
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