Y: Idiom of the Day ~ 4/29/21

Starts with Y – You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink

Jilly’s Take: My oh my! Sounds like trying to get a toddler to do something they don’t want to do. Here’s a tip, does not get any easier as they get older.

Pony wanted to take a gap year after graduating from high school. But no, B and I pushed him insisting he start college in the Fall of 2006. He started off with two courses to test the waters. His first round in school, he lasted only two semesters, earning nine hours in total. Two As and one B. He had the ability but his heart was not in it no matter how hard we pushed. Hence the “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”. Another contributing factor for his dropping out was the “unfortunate event”.

He went to work for Toyota instead. At the time, Toyota had just opened up here. They were hiring anyone and everyone age 18-26, no experience necessary. They needed bodies. The pay was good, the benefits better. Hard work though with alternating two weeks of day then two weeks of night shift.

Pony is like my daddy and B. Their minds work differently. Despite no formal training, they are good at ciphering and/or otherwise figuring things out. They are the no direction types when it comes to something mechanical.

One day Pony (who was way ahead on his quota) was auditing scrap while quietly watching a big hubbub around a certain machine. Multiple engineers had gathered around to fix it. Pony eventually piped up. He told them he knew why the tool was malfunctioning. They poo-pooed him at first then humored him all the same. They ran a “test”. Sure enough our boy was right!

He came home super excited. They had given him a spot bonus. His boss praised him. Told him he had the makings of a fine engineer. Told him he could make a lot more money with a degree. So what did Pony do? He quit. To go back to school.

Returning to college was based on his own decision. No more leading the “horse” aka Pony to water. In round two, he completed two more semesters. A total of twelve hours this time. Straight Bs. Then he dropped out again. This time for good.

He went to work at Gamestop. Retail selling was his calling. Not just the games but merch. Of course the big incentive was in magazine subscriptions. Had he stayed, he would have been a director of several stores.

Instead he left Gamestop for Best Buy (disaster). Eventually he made it to his current gig. Everything happens for a reason. All those different sips of water led him right to where he is supposed to be. B and I, now older and wiser, would have ENCOURAGED that gap year. Screw what other people think. You may never get another chance. But in true “everything happens for a reason” fashion, all is well.

For more on today’s idiom LOOK here. Then check out the video below. Songwriters: George Harrison and Dhani Harrison. What I read at this wiki brought tears to my eyes. George will forever be my favorite Beatle.