Philosophy for Dummies

I had an interesting conversation at work the other day. Well not so much interesting as funny. I was on my way home and stopped to say goodbye to a couple of my former employees that I helped get promoted. They were talking about life philosophies. I'll call them Mr. President (cuz he be politicking with everybody in the building and seems like he's not all there ala dubya) and Mini - Me (cuz she is just like me in terms of her humor and work ethic.)

Mr President was asking us if we have any proverbs or sayings that we live our everyday life by. For instance, some people live by the golden rule (Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.) I thought about it for a minute and couldn't really come up with anything. Mini - Me also didn't have one. We don't really do that whole inspirational quotes/life affirmation thing. So I asked Mr. President what his philosophy was. And here's what he told me.

"If you cut one finger, the rest of your fingers get bloody"

I was like what the hell does that mean? He told me it was about teamwork. Everybody is responsible for everyone else on the team. Mini Me and I laughed at that perversion of the proverb. I asked him do you mean "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link?" He responded that was the same thing. Mr. President then hit me with this gem:

"A crooked stick makes crooked ashes"

Huh, bruh? By now, Mini Me is about to die from laughter. We asked him to break that philosophy down to us. Mr President said its about personal responsibility. If you are crooked, then anything you do will result in crookedness. I was about to lose it but somehow managed to keep a straight face. I said, so you mean "you reap what you sow?" He said it meant the same thing. Of course, I had to go into sarcastic mode and tell him that those were "Almost Proverbs" cuz they almost make sense. It was like Philosophy for Dummies.

I came home and thought about it. I really don't live my life according to a saying or proverb. But I realize that many people do. What are some of the proverbs or daily affirmations that you live by? And have you heard those "almost proverbs" before? Maybe I'm trippin'. By the way, I am still in training (and they had me teaching part of the class) so I may not get to everybody's blog today, but I'll be back on Thursday.

It was written...