Dead horses theme, today. It’s so satisfying, I can’t help it!
Let me just beat it this one more time, and we’ll move on to more productive shores. Just one quick round, in video format today, and then we’ll head on to more Q&A and things you can use for tangible action.
Ready?
First though, a quick story.
You have this lawn care guy. Decent, friendly fellow. He comes every Thursday, mows the lawn, and takes care of the sprinklers. And every time he comes, he lets you know that a few sprinkler heads are broken. Hey my friend, here’s the bill for those sprinkler heads, he says. It basically happens every time you see him.
At some point, after spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on sprinkler heads, you ask lawn guy about this problem. Shouldn’t these sprinkler heads just work? Why do they keep breaking all the time?
Lawn guy shrugs and says, that’s just how it is. These things aren’t engineered well, that’s a fact. I see this all the time, he says. Everywhere I go basically, sprinkler heads need replacing every time.
You don’t love this answer, especially realizing he makes money every time he sells you a new sprinkler head.
At one point you go outside while he mows the lawn, and you realize that the sprinklers are actually on. So they’re sticking out of the ground, as sprinkler heads do when the water is running, and you see lawn guy running them over with the lawn mower. Is he doing it on purpose, you wonder? Hard to say. Probably not, he seems pretty much like he’s paying zero attention.
So when he’s done mowing and decapitating your sprinkler heads, you walk over. You say, hey. You noticed that you’re running over all my sprinkler heads? You need to turn them off before you mow the lawn, that’s how they get broken!
To which he says, looking at you like you’re nuts: That’s how sprinklers work. They’re on a timer. It’s automatic. They come on when I’m here. I know irrigation engineering, studied that stuff in school. And btw, looks like you got three broken sprinkler heads.
Vexing sometimes, letting the professionals handle things.
Now before you start drawing parallels, thinking about how this relates to dead horses, don’t. I’m just telling you a story, no hidden agenda here.
It’s an intriguing and certainly abstract notion that people might sell you a fix for a problem that they cause, inadvertently or otherwise. They profit from selling you that fix, over and over, and they’re either intellectually not inclined to investigate the issue, or it just makes no sense for them to kill their golden goose. They claim ignorance to the bigger picture, looking at you like you’re crazy for even asking. Even if the evidence stares all parties straight in the face, no science minded questions are asked, professional credentials are waved about, and you of course pay the bill. Again.
Yes this is fictional, and suitably far fetched.
I also made a video for you. Unrelated and dead horses themed, and perhaps overcomplicating a very simple premise.
Give it a thumbs up if it’s acceptable, and subscribe to the channel ‘o horses.
Cheers,
-Jake
