FOLKTALE WISDOM

Water’s been seeping from our bathroom sink faucet into the oak cabinet beneath it.  While addressing this problem, we ended up replacing the faucet, the sink, the toilet, and the faded linoleum flooring. Fortunately, our bathroom’s so tiny that these changes weren’t costly.  But they did entail yanking out the oak cabinet, which we didn’t replace, and plopping it down beside our living room sofa.  To lighten the cabinet before lifting it, we pulled out its six cluttered drawers and strewed them around my husband’s home office.  The plumber who oversaw these shenanigans hauled away the old sink, faucet, and toilet—thank heavens!  But the new low-flow toilet, toilet seat, and tank top stood in a cluster of gigantic cardboard boxes beside our TV while we waited 48 hours for the new floor to set enough for the plumber to install them.   

I feel like the folktale home-owner who complained his house was too cluttered and was advised to bring chickens, cows, ducks, geese,etc., inside with him.  Once the oak cabinet, toilet, toilet seat, and tank top were all in the bathroom, our house seemed so orderly! 

Those cabinet drawers were unsightly, though, so I vowed not to put them away until I tidied and cleaned them.  The mess was nearly all mine—ancient lipstick tubes, aspirin bottles with expiration dates ranging from 2003 to 1999, an eyelash curler I was never brave enough to try out. Taming this tangle took five hours, but now make-up, first aid supplies, and grooming tools each have a drawer of their own. 

Incidentally, the name of that folktale is "It Could Always Be Worse," a sentiment underscored by the terrible consequences of the recent earthquake in Haiti.