. . .and some mines in the field.*
This is already shaping up to be a weird post.
I haven’t really lost my mind. I think. It’s just that I was wasting time yesterday (such an unusual occurrence!) by surfing the ‘net, and I came across this strange “fact.” I started to wonder how anyone knew it to be a fact, and why it was a fact, and of course, my next thought was: Wondering Wednesdays!
Ergo, I’ve been wondering about this oddball thing ever since.
What was the “fact?” you ask.
Well. . ..here goes. . .but don’t hold it against me if you find yourselves wondering about this, too, and then wondering why.
The “fact” is as follows:
A donkey will sink in quicksand,but a mule will not.
Now, seriously–who comes up with this stuff? Is this a phenomenon somebody has actually observed? Have there been controlled experiments? Are there people out there dumping hapless donkeys and mules into quicksand?
And doesn’t the SPCA frown on that sort of thing?
Setting aside the question of how this piece of esoterica came to be discovered, aren’t you wondering why it should be the case? Are mules naturally more buoyant than donkeys? Really? Are they smarter? I mean, is it possible that a donkey–having fallen into a pit of quicksand–will thrash around wildly and sink deeper and deeper while a mule–in the same predicament–is smart enough to be still and slowly extricate itself?
I’ve known a couple of donkeys and mules in my life–the four-legged kind–don’t get me started on the number of two-legged specimens I’ve known–and I am fairly comfortable with the statement that mules are not smarter than donkeys. They’re not dumber, either, as far as I can tell. I’d say the IQs are probably within a few points of each other.
I am not swearing to it that this is a fact. I have no quantitative knowledge of the relative intelligence of the various members of the horse family, the Equidae. (But isn’t “Equidae” a kind of cool word?)
I also make no comment on thinking whoever came up with this donkey/mule/quicksand item might have been similarly circumspect,and perhaps–just perhaps–not have made this kind of categorical and, apparently unfounded, statement without providing just a little more background and context for it.
I will say that I now have valuable information about what to do if I ever fall into a pit of quicksand, and I hereby pass it on to you–just so the day won’t be a total waste. Click here to read some instructions and see a video. I can also reassure you that your chances of falling into said pit are probably not high in spite of its prevalence in every jungle movie I’ve ever seen as a child. So, no need to wonder about that.
What is worth a little wondering is the quote I came up with for a headline today:
“Retirement can be a bit of a wonderland. But there are some patches of quicksand and some mines in the field.“*
I think that’s patently true–because I’ve “retired” from my money job, and I’m supposed to be writing, and here I am wondering about donkeys in quicksand. If that’s not a mine in the field, I don’t know what is.
