Inexpensive Lessons

We have all heard it before on the news, in church, elsewhere: "This was a lesson that came at a high price..."

So what about the lessons that come at a low price. Maybe the effectiveness of the lesson is directly proportional to the cost... but I don't think so. Here are two lessons I learned that came at a relatively low cost. Thank heavens.

13 years old:
I found a crossbow in a garbage once while doing my paper route. I am sure the crossbow had killed a pet or person in this family and so they were getting rid of it. I was 13... I had no choice right? I had to resurrect it to mischievous use. I hauled it home (I wonder what neighbors thought as their paperboy walked by with their paper in one hand, and a crossbow in the other... Deseret News doesn't mess around). When I got home I immediately grabbed the only arrows we had, my Dad's hunting arrows. I shot a few of them at the fence. One shot kicked a little harder than expected and the arrow went sailing over the fence (remember, these were full-on hunting arrows). I immediately raced to the front yard in terror. I found the arrow lying safely in the middle of the cul-de-sac. To this day I get the chills when I think about what an idiot 13-year old could have done to some unsuspecting person.

21 years old:
I am at Utah State in the University Pines Apartment parking lot. I was scratching my head because my car was out of gas and I needed to get some errands done. It was COMPLETELY out of gas. I had, in fact, rolled into the parking lot on fumes the day before.
Jake: I could ask one of my many friends (several of whom had already offered) to get a ride to the gas station... but that would mean driving back and forth and... ahh, what a pain."
The nearest gas station was in the Smith's parking lot about a 3/4 mile away.. but entirely downhill from where I was. 4th north in Logan descends from campus down to Main Street at a pretty good grade. If I could hit the one light just right, I could sail right in to the station. What a brilliant idea!! I slowly heaved the car over to the street, got it turned down the hill then exerted a final effort at a head start. I got clipping along pretty good and as I went to hop into my now quickly rolling vehicle, I stumbled over my own feet. For a second I was essentially being dragged. With every ounce of power in my arms, and with significant awkwardness, I hauled myself into the car and assumed some control. I immediately thought, "geez I could have rolled over my legs..." As I glided down 4th North, it struck me with some pretty humbling clarity that I had VERY nearly sent an un-maned vehicle (a.k.a A 4,000 pound torpedo) down one of the busiest streets in Logan. At that grade the ABSOLUTE BEST scenario would have been a tree impalement at 40 miles an hour. At worst?.. well... geez I shutter to think. Incidentally I did hit the light just right and sailed into the gas station so I could put $4.75 worth of gas in the car.

These were lessons learned at a relatively low price. Another lesson in all of this is that there are 12 and 21 (and 32) year olds out there now. Heaven help us all to not bear any costs associated with their "lessons."

Jake