we received these little free samples of the new chocolate covered altoids
my kids and i were riding in the car, eating the samples and reading the package (we are always package readers)- when matt said:
“hey, look- the quantity says ABOUT 3.”
we laughed. it’s surprising to see ABOUT, not something specific, like 3 or 5.
we found that the packages had anywhere from about 3 to about 6 altoids.
so, we had extra fun eating uncountable amounts of altoids with the added excitement of hoping for the package with six altoids
i realized how accustomed we in america have become to exacting and quantifying and timing, in our numbers and language, in what we receive and what we give. we do this without grace, actually.
we have even made it a value:
to be exact is to do a job well.
to be ABOUT is to be sloppy and careless
(this is true for some things, dont miss the point on this)
Tags: values
