Fathom is a good word. For example: I cannot fathom why the people who park at the Broadview branch of the Seattle Public Library have such a difficult time sticking it between the lines. I wonder if people who drive like that, who care so little for other people, who think only, obviously, of themselves, would ever use the word Fathom. Is it too intellectual for them. Ostensibly they possess a modicum of intelligence: they\u2019re at the library, after all.<\/p>\n
But have you seen some of the vehicles. There\u2019s an inexorable association between IQ and income, isn\u2019t there. Not that your average BMW driver is a genius. Indeed, most them are assholes too. Maybe\u2019s it\u2019s an extreme thing: expensive car, park like a jerk so no one dings your doors. Old jalopy: swerve into the space without paying attention to where your tires land.<\/p>\n
Come to think of it, perhaps I should eschew the notion that there\u2019s any chance these idiots are smart just because they\u2019d rather get the latest David Baldacci for free than pay for the e-reader edition on their Kindle Fires.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be honest: I\u2019m not sure, myself, why fathom, a unit of nautical measurement, can be used as a synonym for a thought process. It\u2019s a metaphor, I suppose; one attempts to \u201cplumb the depths of thought.\u201d Or something. But what about that word, \u201cplumb?\u201d And just why are thoughts said to be \u201cdeep,\u201d in the first place? As far as I know, if water is deep, light ceases top penetrate it. The deeper the thought, the darker, the murkier.<\/p>\n
Forces of nature, is how I reconcile my angst when I see these terrible drives. That\u2019s a bit of synecdoche there (or metonymy; I always get the two confused). I don\u2019t actually see the actual drivers, I just see their terrible cars and their terrible parking jobs. I don\u2019t ever see the wind that blows down the trees, either, just the crushed houses. But I can\u2019t take the wind personally, and certain those awful people in their awful beaters didn\u2019t park like that for my sake.<\/p>\n
Maybe I should thank them, though, the way one thanks God. One claims that The Lord works in mysterious ways, and that can be a meditation on finding the Good in tragedy. Look, I know someone\u2019s parking like a total fuckwit is not much a tragedy, but if I can something out it, like, a little self-examination and some pleasure around thinking of a nice word like \u201cfathom,\u201d well, that\u2019s better than the alternative.<\/p>\n
Besides, I don\u2019t carry a knife with me, as the alternative, slashing tires, is rather illegal, I\u2019m told.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fathom is a good word. For example: I cannot fathom why the people who park at the Broadview branch of the Seattle Public Library have such a difficult time sticking it between the lines. I wonder if people who drive like that, who care so little for other people, who think only, obviously, of themselves, … <\/p>\n