Mostly Done.

This is a treatise on Why I don't untie my shoes.

Not that it's a newsworthy topic, but when I asked Jen at the beginning of the month what she thought I should write about, this is one of the ideas she pitched.  So here goes.

First an image of a cute puppy.   He almost made it.  via.

Have you ever been in a situation where you had a job to do, and you realized that the constraints were so tight that you could do 50% of the job and get 95% of the benefit?  It sounds terrible, I know.  The words, lazy, slacker, unmotivated, and half-hearted come to my mind.  None of these are words that I imagine anyone wants to use to describe themselves.  They are the type of words that you'll never find on a resume, that you'll never hear a person pride themselves in, and that you'll probably never hear come from someone's mouth with a smile on their face.

BUT--

What about the other side of the coin?  You know-- the "glass half full" interpretation of that situation.  In the financial world, people get huge bonuses for ideas like that.  People use the words efficient, savvy, innovative, and advantage.  I see a whole side of the issue that says that given a limited set of resources, where can I get the largest return on a minimum investment?

I think this is how I see the "To untie or not to untie" debate.  To me, untying shoes that will just need to be tied again is somewhat of a waste of (time) resources.  In a world where clogs and slip-on shoes abound, why not just loosely tie the shoes so they can effectively be slip-ons?   Granted, there are athletic shoes that need to be cinched up to perform properly, as you shouldn't hike, run, climb in loose-fitting shoes.  But cruising around the office?  Or walking to school?  Sounds acceptably leisurely to me.  And what of the "You'll break the heel!" argument?  Well, it's a good one, especially if the shoe is tied so tightly that they do not approximate the comfort of slip-on shoes.  Therefore, if you have to wriggle and jam your feet to get the heel to slide into a tied shoe... you better untie them.  But if you can easily shoe-horn the footwear on-- I say go for it.  Leave them tied.

Shoes aren't the only domain where people historically give a half-hearted effort.  Here are a bunch of stereotypical and otherwise examples of people doing 50% of the work to get 95% of the benefit.  Consider:

• Make bed-- or at least pull the covers up.
• Close the bathroom door--or at least swing it so it obscures the toilet.
• Put the toilet seat and cover down--or at least don't leave a mess.
• Take the trash out at the end of the night--or at least get to it when it's full.
• Put away the folded laundry--or at least put the clean stack in your room.
• Put dirty clothes in the hamper--or at least gather them on laundry day.
• Throw away the gas station receipts--or at least get to them on semi-annual car cleanout day.
• Put things away--or at least stack things at the bottom/top of the stairs for the next trip up.
• Take care of the yard--or at least mow the lawn but not trim around the edges.
• Get all your shopping done--or at least get the food in the trunk and let the next person put the cart away.
• Get on your Sunday best--or at least sling a pre-tied necktie loosely over your unbuttoned collar.
• Put your toys away--at least so they don't get run over (even if they'll still get rained on).
• Write a great paper--or at least get the polished draft written without spell-checking.

See what I mean?  There are LOTS of ways that we go halfsies to mostly get the job done.  People have their "things", you know?  I put away my dirty laundry and clean laundry, but I don't tie my shoes.