It's not rocket science!

 

There are two expressions that I really hate...

"It's not rocket science." and "It's not the end of the world."

Ben was having a bit of trouble opening a can of beans. He just couldn't get the opener to work. He swore and called out to his mate Andrew. "This bloody opener just won't work! Can you give it a go?"

Andrew took the can, looked at it, and said, "[What did Andrew say?]"

This was really a simple task, made harder because Ben was sort of trying too hard and getting himself into a bit of a snot. Andrew wanted to compare the opening of the can to something.

Andrew could see that it was silly to compare a simple task like this to the very complicated task of building and launching a rocket.

With not much effort he opened the can and said, "It's not lawnmower maintenance."

Here are a few 'not so spectacular' things that he could have said:

• "It's nowhere near as hard as fixing a broken pipe."
• "This is easy, compared to changing a car tyre."
• "Getting a good tone on the violin is harder."
• "I'm glad I'm opening this can and not having to clean my spouting."

* * *

Betty was getting ready to go out with her friend Cathy to a work dinner. She had all her makeup on and had chosen her favourite dress. Suddenly she realised that one of her favourite earrings was missing! She started panicking and called out to Cathy for help to find it.

Neither of them could find it anywhere. Cathy needed to console her friend, but she was aware that it was just a little matter and that Betty had other nice earrings that she could wear.

Cathy said, "It's not the end of the world."

NO!!!

OF COURSE IT WASN'T THE END OF THE WORLD!

The reality was that probably no one at the dinner would even notice that Betty wasn't wearing her favourite earrings.

Here are some better messages that Cathy could have given her friend:

• "No one will notice, just wear your hair down."
• "It's better than losing your purse."
• "Anyway, I like that shade of lipstick you're wearing."
• "Don't be a drama queen!"

* * *

Now, I'm going to ask a favour of my fellow bloggers.

Let's cut down on superlatives.

Let's keep it real. A slight accident in your underpants is nowhere near what will happen at the end of the world. Just clean them and wash them, then carry on with life - in dry underpants.

Look, nice dry underpants to change into.
No big deal.